Nearly all members of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) — 96 percent — consider the spread of false information a problem for school districts, up from 81 percent in 2020.
The latest NSPRA survey compiled responses from 364 school communication professionals in January 2024 into a report released June 14, From Distortion to Clarity: Empowering School Districts to Overcome False Information.
“As school communications professionals, we are no strangers to the challenge of responding to misinformation and rumors. But today’s landscape is unprecedented, with false information impacting school districts to an alarming degree,” wrote NSPRA Executive Director Barbara M. Hunter. “The growing problem of false information is draining not just staff time but also our school districts’ relationships with their stakeholders. To fulfill their mission of educating students, school districts must have a trusting relationship with parents/caregivers, school employees and the broader community. When false information breaks down that trust, it doesn’t just harm schools: It hurts students, too.”
For the purposes of the survey, NSPRA defined “false information” as encompassing both misinformation, which is spread unintentionally, and disinformation, which is deliberately disseminated to deceive.
Extreme cases of false information negatively impacting students and school staff alike often include the use of generative artificial intelligence to create AI-generated nude photos of students or fake audio recordings of school leaders. In another recent case, students created fake TikTok accounts to impersonate teachers.
However, policy issues (69 percent) and safety concerns, including security threats (66 percent), were reported by NSPRA members to be the most frequent subjects of false information. Other topics prone to misinformation and disinformation included transgender students and bathrooms, critical race theory, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, budget and funding and bullying and fights.
Among survey respondents, 41 percent reported encountering false information campaigns deliberately aimed to deceive those in their school communities — often spread both online and in person. Facebook and word-of-mouth (79 percent) were ranked as the top modes for false information to spread in their communities, with other mediums showing a drastically lower spread rate of 9 to 38 percent.
False information was found to be harmful and costly for districts, with 65 percent of respondents saying they dedicate between one and four hours per week addressing challenges caused by false information. Impacts of false information include harm to the district’s reputation (89 percent), increased staff workload (83 percent) and diminished confidence in leadership (76 percent). Respondents also reported that false information has an impact on student enrollment and teacher/staff recruitment and retention.
A majority of respondents said the spread of false information will continue to impact schools. Seventy-seven percent reported being very concerned, somewhat concerned or concerned that their school system may face challenges related to false information in the future.
In an effort to prevent the development and/or spread of false information, NSPRA recommended establishing a trusted source of information, monitoring for false information and responding quickly to prevent any spread, and engaging in clear and effective communication free of jargon and jargon and overly complex explanations.
Other recommendations outlined in the report include collaborating with credible partners such as trustworthy media outlets to disseminate information and working with experts who can provide authoritative voices on specific issues; using social media wisely by providing facts and evidence while avoiding confrontational or defensive posturing; empowering and mobilizing the community to report instances of false information and be advocates for accurate information; developing a crisis communication; and being transparent and admitting mistakes when they occur to build trust.
