The government has been urged to add a new topic to the school curriculum – media and information literacy (MIL).

In MIL, you learn important skills to help you think carefully about the information you see in books, newspapers and online. You’d learn how to tell fact from opinion, spot false information and bias, and become better informed.

The way that we consume media and information is changing fast, and the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA) has warned that children are leaving school “unprepared”.

It’s gathered a bunch of top media and education organisations – including First News – to urge the government to make sure that schools give MIL “the same status and attention as reading and writing”.

First News recently ran a survey and found that four-fifths of teachers think that MIL is important or very important. However, nearly two-thirds told us it isn’t taught at their school.

Low levels of media literacy can cause big problems in society. This month, cancer experts warned that patients are turning down important treatment more and more after reading false information online.