“I Saw It on TikTok”: A Health Literacy Game For High Schoolers
- Abby Davis
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
The 10-minute health literacy activity that gets middle and high schoolers thinking critically about online health claims
A student sees a TikTok claiming sunscreen causes cancer.
Another hears that seed oils are “poison.”
Someone else swears creatine will destroy your kidneys because their cousin said so.
Welcome to teaching health in a world where ChatGPT & TikTok are basically everyone’s doctor.
The problem is not just that teens are surrounded by misinformation. It's that most of them have never actually been taught how misinformation spreads in the first place. They can usually spot something ridiculous ("put garlic in your nose to cure a cold"), but they struggle with misinformation that sounds confident, scientific, emotional, or viral.
If you want to open up a really great conversation with your teens about health misinformation, without blanket statements like, "just don't trust TikTok for health questions" then I've got a game for you. One that my students both laugh at, but are always shocked by how quickly the information gets out of hand and, in some cases, potentially dangerous. The game is called Medical Telephone. It takes around 10 minutes in action and requires almost no prep.
How Medical Telephone is the Perfect Health Literacy Game for High Schoolers
The idea is simple:
Students pass a health-related message from person to person, like the classic game of telephone.
Instead of random sentences, each student represents a different stage of how information spreads online. Let's take the four characters above, the most credible source comes from medical researchers (peer-reviewed clinical studies, to be exact). That will be the first person in line. They will be given a short paragraph with health information based on a recent study. It will have nuance, it will have sample size, and it will be very careful with its claims.
The researcher will share the data word-for-word with the reporter. The reporter will need to simplify the data so it's a bit more digestible, and also turn it into a headline story, that might mean a tiny exaggeration, or removing a bit of nuance from the information.
The reporter then shares this with the blogger. The blogger needs it to be even more simplified and adjusted to match their audience. Maybe the blogger even has a financial incentive to get more clicks, so they add some exaggerated personal experience stories to confirm that the study is, in fact, true.
Lastly, the blogger passes this information to the influencer (let's say a TikToker) whose main goal is to go viral. How might they shape the information to hook people, maybe even make them feel something strong, like fear or excitement? Better yet, maybe they use that emotion to sell a product that somehow connects to the health claim.
See how within just four people, the information has already drastically changed? Now imagine how this happens as thousands of people retell it to friends, family, and their social media followers. The possibilities go on and on.
This is health literacy for high school students in action, helping them understand not just what misinformation looks like, but how and why it spreads at every stage of the information chain.
Here are some example characters for your lineup:
Medical researcher
News reporter
Wellness influencer
Supplement company
TikTok creator
Friend at school
Each person slightly changes the message based on their "role."
By the end, the original information has usually turned into something exaggerated, emotional, oversimplified, or completely false.
And that's exactly the point.
Here's How to Play Medical Telephone in Your Classroom
Have 6 volunteers stand at the front of the class. Either tell them their character title (Wellness Influencer, Supplement Brand) and let them decide how to morph the information, OR provide them with a roleplay card that details the intention of that character and specifics on how they might edit the information for that intention.
Start with an original data-backed statement like the example below, print it off and hand it to your Medical Researcher. Have them read it aloud to the class, then give the next character 30 seconds to think about how they can take this information and share it with the next person in line. They will then share it aloud with the next person. This continues until all characters have gone, and then you can go right into debriefing.
"One 2021 systematic review examining 18 studies on healthy male adults found cold exposure may temporarily affect attention, alertness, and processing speed, though results varied depending on the type and duration of exposure."
Now watch what happens as it moves through the "telephone line."
Medical Researcher "One 2021 systematic review examining 18 studies on healthy male adults found cold exposure may temporarily affect attention, alertness, and processing speed, though results varied depending on the type and duration of exposure."
News Headline "Cold Showers May Boost Brain Function for Adults"
Wellness Influencer "Cold showers are a powerful natural brain hack."
Supplement Brand "Modern life makes us weak. Cold therapy helps unlock your true energy."
TikTok Creator "Cold showers literally rewire your brain and make you more productive."
Friend at School "Cold showers make you smarter."
I prefer to run one round where everything is shared aloud in front of the class so everyone can watch the changes happen in real time. For a second round, though, it's more fun to play it like a traditional game of telephone, where the class can't hear it changing, only the final result at the end.
This game is easy enough to run with just a few slips of paper. However, if you want a full lesson that includes all the roleplay cards, instruction slides, follow-up discussion questions, and even a homework assignment, check out this Medical Telephone Health Literacy Lesson.
The Trust Hierarchy: Teaching Teens Who to Trust
After playing Medical Telephone, it's important to help teens understand who they can actually trust and the signs to look out for when they encounter health information online. Simple statements like, "Just use reliable sources like the World Health Organization."
will not fly with teens, mainly because they see health information online every day from various sources.
Most middle and high schoolers have no framework for what that actually means. That's why the "trust hierarchy" is so important. Students need to learn that not all sources carry equal weight. A simple version might look like this:
This does not mean higher-trust sources are always perfect.
It means students learn to ask:
What is this person’s expertise?
Are they trying to sell something?
Is this based on one story or broader evidence?
Is the claim exaggerated?
Can other trusted sources confirm it?
That mindset shift is huge.
If you want to use this full lesson (with homework) in your classroom, just print the role cards, pull up the slides and teach.. then here you go!
If you're a middle school teacher and want a similar lesson at a more age-appropriate difficulty level, try this Health Literacy Lesson for Middle School.
Teach on,
Abby from LifeFluent
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