Children today grow up in an environment full of information. They can find videos, news, comments, advertisements, and various claims in just a few seconds via the internet. The problem is, not all information that looks convincing is true. Therefore, critical thinking skills have become increasingly important even since elementary school. Children need to learn to ask, "Where did this information come from?", "Is there evidence?", and "Are there other possible explanations?" This doesn't mean children should always be suspicious of everything, but they need to learn to differentiate between information, opinions and facts.
Critical thinking is not only useful for school lessons. This ability helps children make decisions in everyday life. As they get older, they will face advertising, peer pressure, social media information, and even decisions that have big consequences. If from childhood they are accustomed to looking for reasons and evidence before believing, they will be better prepared to face this environment. Teachers and parents can train them through simple questions without making learning feel like an exam. Let children explain why they chose an answer and learn to accept that a problem sometimes has more than one point of view.
