Angelina Jolie has announced plans to bring information about the coronavirus pandemic to a young audience, saying children will remember this experience “throughout their life”.
The Hollywood actress is working with the BBC World Service to make special digital content.
Jolie, 44, said: “Children have not been out of school on this scale since the Second World War. This is something that, throughout their lifetimes, they will remember.
“It is something that older generations, for all their other reference points, have not experienced.
“The way children go through this time – from the tools and information they can access to the ways they can communicate to and help each other – will be unique to their generation.”
The mother-of-six said: “We want to help kids to have access to trusted content and tools that will be useful to them during the pandemic – including helping them to seek out fact-based and reliable news, question the information they receive, and learn from each other’s experiences.”
Content will be aimed at a young teenage audience.
It will tackle how to spot harmful misinformation, questions about health, vlogs and experiences from young people in lockdown around the world, and tips and coping strategies for home education.
My World: Coronavirus follows on from My World, a global show for young audiences explaining “the stories behind the news”, which Jolie executive produced.
BBC World Service Group director Jamie Angus said: “This is an unprecedented situation – so many school-age children and young people are now out of schools.
“But the need has never been greater for them to have access to trusted and accessible information about coronavirus, and for educators to use that content in remote learning.
“The BBC World Service will bring its ability to report the truly global scale of this challenge into creating meaningful and relevant content for our young audiences.”
– New content will be released on the BBC My World YouTube channel and distributed across the BBC’s global platforms.