By Isle of Wight Observer
As a former student of Sandown Bay Academy (many readers will know it as the Fairway), and then the Island Innovation 6th Form (many readers will know as Nodehill), and subsequently gaining a degree at university, I have been following the IW Observer’s coverage of the state of education on the Island, as well as the plans proposed for another school reorganisation – impacting on staff, families, and the ones most often overlooked, the students of today and the future.
Coming from the Island, like many that have worked hard to secure the right grades to enable entry to degree, and now post-graduate, education (together with the career opportunities that this presents), I know that Island students from working class families such as mine can navigate increasingly challenging pathways to academic success and rewarding careers, as well as, hopefully, make a positive difference to the lives of others.
As part of my current studies (alongside part-time work to fund the cost of learning), I am fortunate to have been chosen, for the second year, to attend the 6th annual Digital Verification Summit, this year in Geneva, alongside students from around the globe – including UC Berkeley, Universidad Iberoamericana, Herie School of Governance, and the Geneva Academy.
The summit is extremely topical, in an age of fake-news, deep-fakes, misinformation, artificial intelligence, and how, through social media platforms, they can be used to influence public opinion, especially amongst young people – as we have seen recently in America, and closer home in the riots in August.
Attending workshops led by the leading figures from United Nations, Amnesty International, International Committee of the Red Cross, and other experts from the world of open-source investigations, we learnt skills and techniques of open-source research, helping track conflicts and humanitarian issues, and can also be applied to local situations, such on the Island and the proposed reorganisation of schools.
Last week, the IW Observer included a headline warning that ‘false facts will affect debate’, highlighting how misleading, untrue or outright fake content can lead to decisions that damage communities in the short term, and individuals, such as students, for the rest of their lives.
I know from talking to my family, and friends, how much was promised with the previous reorganisation of schools on the Island – doubtless, there were successes, and I perhaps was one of those, but (as locally independently verified statistics show) academic performance on the Island is at the wrong end of national tables, and the number of home educated students is enough to keep more than three schools open and full.
My childhood on the Island, refreshed whenever I pop back, played a huge part in shaping my journey, giving me a passion for social justice, an understanding of the complexities of human behaviour and, as a young person, of how the modern digital world can be a power for good, making positive change, but, equally, guarded as to the dangers posed by dark, dangerous digital manipulation.
Studying for a Masters in International Human Rights Law, I am fully aware of how easily it is to mislead or misinform people, using platforms that prey on vulnerable people (such as evidenced by victims of scams), but also can inflame groups in communities at times of sensitivity.
I hope my future, forged and founded on the Island, can make a real difference, for instance exposing violations in faraway lands, in an increasingly interconnected world; but I also hope that the principles that I value – fact-checking, open-source research, and a quest for the truth (in the media and on social media) – are applied locally, especially at this time, and any life-changing decisions that are made are based on facts and truth, not manipulation and misinformation.