Disinformation operates everywhere in our daily life. It is commonly referred to as an active measure, or a form of manipulation used by governments or corporations who set out deliberately to mislead and deceive people for power. The children overboard case is the first thing that comes to mind when the word “disinformation” is mentioned. It is easy though to blame the government for misinforming as a tool used to confer their image and gain control. However, we are all prone to deliberately framing facts to manipulate and control people in certain ways.
This is particularly evident when looking at parents with children. Being young and vulnerable, children bear the brunt of disinformation. They are constantly lied to and told stories so that adults can control their behaviour. The most obvious example is Santa Clause. Santa Clause is used a vehicle to get children to behave appropriately throughout the year, otherwise Santa wont come on Christmas morning. Parents could easily remove Santa by saying “I wont give you a Christmas present if you’re naughty”, but they don’t because they don’t want their children to hate them. This is consistent with the thought that these days, parents and children are “friends”, the line between guardian and junior blurred.
Other examples are wives tales such as “carrots help you see in the dark”, or “if you dont eat your crusts you hair will go grey”. These are just lines told to children in order to get them to eat vegetables and finish their food. It is interesting to note though that this type of disinform is clearly different to telling children white lies to avoid telling complexities in life that they wont understand, such as where babies come from. Clearly, children are too young to understand the truth of sex and childbirth.
There are two implications that present themselves though. When children eventually discover the truth, not only is their intelligence offended, but there is also a large portion of disappointment. It is easy for adults to think “oh well, they’ll get over it”, but if you put yourself in their shoes, the let down is huge. This devastation, can be also seen when children discover that a) fairies don’t exist b) unicorns don’t exist c) the seven dwarfs don’t exist d) the tooth fairy doesn’t exist e) the Easter bunny doesn’t exist f) there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow g) there is no prince charming or h) the ugly sisters don’t have a hot step sister called Cinderella. Some argue that this isn’t disinformation, but just allowing children to just be children, letting them imagine life without the responsibility of everyday life. It is also suggested that parents need a way to monitor and force children’s behaviour that isn’t visible. This notion could be challenged thought, that we are only setting children up for disappointment, and subsequently have a cynical outlook on life. As a result, their trust in others is broken at an early age, making them callous and selfish.
Reproaching parents for disinforming might sound petty, however the point I wish to make here is that we are all, arguably, prone to disinform.
