Information asymmetry: When knowing and caring more about a topic disadvantages kids

May 6, 2026

The Or Initiative team interviewed teens in New York City and Southern California last year to learn how young people decide what to trust online about current events and contentious topics, and how they talk (and don’t talk) about those issues with peers.

We’re kicking off our WORks in Progress series with 4 key findings from our interviews with more than 100 middle school, high school, and college students, educators, school leaders, and curriculum developers. See our recent report for more: Coming of Age in Polarized Times: Teaching Civil Discourse in a Digital Era.

By Michael H. Levine and Vikki Katz

We tell young people that “knowledge is power”--but what happens when it isn’t?

Middle school, high school, and undergraduate students told us something that will surprise many readers: when they are better informed and care more about a current event or contentious topic, they are disadvantaged when they talk to less informed and invested peers.

Why?

In the two years after October 7th, Jewish students we interviewed were reading more widely and deeply about unfolding events in Israel and Gaza and the history of the conflict than their non-Jewish peers, since they are more directly affected by what was happening in the Middle East and by how it was affecting Jewish Americans at home.

Survey research by Eitan Hersh found the same pattern nationally; Jewish students were also more likely to be relying on legacy media sources. That puts them in a different information ecosystem from their peers because Gen Z Americans rely most heavily on social media for news, a trend linked to less knowledge of current events and greater familiarity with conspiracy theories, according to Pew Research Center.

Young people feel the consequences in their interactions. They told us that they size up their peers; if they conclude that they are “social media educated,” then it’s better to avoid conversations. They feel that those peers are more likely to be overconfident than nuanced—and will be able to walk away from a contentious discussion without the lingering hurt of a deeply meaningful issue having been treated casually by a peer.

What do young people think can correct this imbalance so that they can have the conversations that give them—and complex issues—the seriousness and care they deserve?

Across our interviews, it was clear: young people are hungry for environments that establish clear guardrails for discussion of tough topics, insist on a shared evidence base, and give them routine interactions with the same peers as a stable learning community.

What they are looking for, it turns out, are classrooms.

At Or Initiative, we are working to make classrooms the civic spaces that young people crave—and that teachers want their classrooms to be. Our interviews revealed that teachers see building students’ civil and civic muscle as part of their mission, but fear they lack the time, training, and tools to do it well.

That’s why Or Initiative is not only building curricular tools to integrate digital discernment, robust curriculum on contentious topics, and civil discourse activities. We are also working to build the community that educators will need to take up these challenges with confidence.

In the coming months and throughout the 2026–27 school year, we’ll use WORks in Progress to share what we’re learning from a professional learning community of middle and high school teachers testing our tools in their classrooms—and building community with us and each other along the way.

Because students deserve a real community for building trust and understanding. Their teachers do too.

WORks in Progress will keep you updated on what we’re developing with educators to build young people’s civil and civic muscle in the digital age. You can also join our mailing list and access our learning resources at orinitiative.org

Vikki Katz, Ph.D., is Executive Director and Founder of Or Initiative