Sources of Values: Bias

Our values come from various sources like our cultural traditions, societal norms (what society thinks is okay), religious beliefs, personal experiences, and family backgrounds (is your family rich or not, big or small, religious or secular, famous or not?).

Other things like school, media, and peer groups can also shape our values. 

With the rise of social media such as X, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, and Snapchat, our media sources can be wrong and biased, and our values become wrong too, since the information we build them on is also incorrect. It is also possible for traditional media such as television and newspapers to be biased and controlled by others even when they shouldn’t be.

Bias is when the media supports one idea over another in a way that isn’t based on facts and is unfair. Some people in society can be treated badly just because of media bias. There are many incidents in human history where media was used to support unfair treatment of the poor by the rich, of Africans during colonial times, or women in some countries today, and so on. Can you think of any groups in your country that still face unfair treatment? If you were the leader for a day, what rule would you make to help them and why?