Sift - News Therapy
By Ana Beltran,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fun, interactive, thorough way to explore current topics.
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Sift - News Therapy
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What’s It About?
SIFT – NEWS THERAPY is a news platform that aims to breakdown complex current topics by presenting historical context, exploring different perspectives, and illustrating information grounded in data. The current series includes six topics, each released on a weekly basis. Among the topics addressed by the app are immigration, gun control, segregation in the education system, and healthcare. Each topic is explored through two articles that explore big ideas relevant to the topic. Primary sources, including photographs and past newspaper articles, and data presented through graphs, charts, and maps are embedded in each article. A tab on the bottom left hand corner of each page discloses the source of the information presented. Tapping the flag on the bottom right hand corner allows kids to bookmark pages. Kids can tap on terms underlined in blue to access definitions. After reading the articles that explore the topic, the app prompts users to reflect, asking if “reading this topic has made you feel more or less anxious?” on a scale from one through five. Interactive features also include mini-quizzes that test knowledge on each of the topics. All pages of the articles can be shared to social media, emailed, texted or downloaded directly from the app by tapping on the share button on the top right corner.
Is It Any Good?
Kids and teens will enjoy this easy to navigate news platform that presents data and sources relying on independent research (like the National Academies Press) that explore current hot topics. Each topic is presented using facts and the historical narrative that's often lost in the political hype, rousing headlines, and heated, publicized debates. The information is presented in a way that allows users to unpack complex issues without evoking or exploiting emotional reactions to persuade readers towards a specific point of view. There's definitely a tone of transparency, specifically illustrated by the disclosure of sources used to compose the information on each page of the articles. Rather than passively reading news, Sift – News Therapy encourages users to actively engage with information through fun little mini quizzes and interactive graphs, charts, and maps. There's an emphasis on learning more about a topic, exploring its history and its impact, rather than taking a side. It's worth noting, that app store reviews indicate some users feel the presentation is biased and left-leaning. However, there's no inflammatory language, hyperbole, or overt attempts to convince the user, which is helpful.
The articles are quite thorough, and the design of the interface is appealing and makes it easy to navigate the app. In order to take full advantage of the app, enjoy the articles alongside your kid. This will give families the opportunity to provide support in analyzing primary sources or data. Enjoying the app together will also encourage kids to ask questions and promotes discussion around these complex topics. Overall, Sift – News Therapy is an age-appropriate platform where kids can explore current hot topics, know the sources of information, and use it as a more measured way to come to their own conclusions.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the value of analyzing several sources of information and considering different perspectives in order to determine their own reactions when using Sift – News Therapy. It’s not always easy to make sense of all the headlines and heated publicized debates surrounding current topics and events, but around how media caters to its viewers, impacting what information is shared and how it is shared, is important.
Talk about how to think through primary sources and how to analyze information presented on graphs or charts.
Engage in conversations with kids around some of the complexities in difficult subjects, such as gun control and immigration. Ask open ended questions that help them think through the information they're reading and encourage them to ask questions as well. Talking about a hot topic in an objective way and navigating through some of the primary sources and data offered by the app can make the news less scary.
Families can broaden discussion around current topics, such as global warming, by talking about helping and making a difference. Discuss how teens can take action by volunteering, participating in community events, or joining school clubs.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Language & Reading: reading, text analysis, vocabulary, Math: graphing, statistics, Social Studies: citizenship, cultural understanding, events, exploration, history, power structures, the economy, timelines
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: analyzing evidence, asking questions, investigation, thinking critically, Self-Direction: academic development
- Pricing structure: Free to try (After a seven-day free trial, users can subscribe for $19.99. This is a six month, auto-renewing subscription.)
- Release date: April 18, 2019
- Category: News
- Publisher: All Turtles Corporation
- Version: 1.1.7
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 12.0 or later
- Last updated: February 16, 2020
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