The stereotype of baby boomers moving to Florida post-retirement is one of the oldest around. But recent reports indicate they are now abandoning Florida for an unlikely alternative: Southern Appalachia, a region that includes Northern Georgia, the Carolinas, and portions of Tennessee and Virginia. An influx of boomers moving to Appalachia is "transforming the region from poor, serene and rustic to a bustling retirement haven," said a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. 

Why are boomers moving from Florida to Appalachia?
Most of the boomers moving to Appalachia are "drawn by lower housing costs and living expenses, lower taxes, lower insurance costs, low crime, warm weather (but with seasons) and less chance of hurricanes," the Journal said. Another hypothesis for the demographic change is that the Covid-19 pandemic fueled "interest in Appalachia because people wanted to get back to nature and leave crowded areas," Gayle Manchin, the Appalachian Regional Commission's co-chair and the wife of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), said to the Journal. 

How is this change affecting Appalachia?
The boomer shift has caused a sudden population surge in Appalachian areas that were previously rural. All of these retirees need places to shop and eat, so big-box stores have "crept further into Southern Appalachia, where local downtowns have long been the economic engines of many towns and small cities," said Business Insider. Chain restaurants and shopping destinations like Walmart have become commonplace throughout the region.

From April 2020 to July 2022, the population in Southern Appalachian counties designated "retirement" or "recreational areas" increased by 3.8%. This is more than six times the national average, said Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the University of Virginia, to the Journal. 

How do native Appalachians feel about this?
Many appear angry at the development. In Dawson County, arguments "erupt regularly on Dawson Facebook pages over newcomer-spurred traffic, which has been a shock to the folksy culture for which this Republican-dominated county is known," the Journal said. For many natives, these population bumps have "caused longtime residents of Appalachia to worry about rising housing costs and impacts to the environment," the Tallahassee Democrat said.

Tech experts, lawmakers and other public officials have long been warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to doctored or fake news sources. As such, schools have begun a push toward media literacy in the classroom, an effort that has now spilled into the halls of state houses and Congress.   

Literacy push already in place
Eighteen states already require some form of media literacy classes, and each has implemented them in different ways, according to Media Literacy Now. Delaware is described as having set the highest bar in the classroom, as it has passed a law that "requires the state Department of Education to write standards for media literacy for K-12 classrooms that schools must use." These standards "promote strong digital citizenship and help ensure all students receive thoughtful instruction on how best to navigate media safely." Similar laws requiring media literacy lessons have also been passed in New Jersey. 

Florida, Ohio, California and Texas have also passed media literacy laws. Other states, while passing some forms of media literacy laws, have implemented them in more muted ways. Many students across these states seem to be taking the lessons positively. Students can "have an opinion on either side, but you should be able to validate that opinion with a fact-based article," Manganello said, and that "information literacy is the umbrella for all of the things that we teach in the library."

Federal literacy push
While individual states are looking to combat AI disinformation, there are no federal guidelines for teaching media literacy. But some in Congress are trying to change that. A bipartisan bill, the AI Literacy Act, was introduced in 2023 by Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.) and Rep. Larry Bruschon (R-Ind.). The proposed bill "codifies AI literacy as a key component of digital literacy and creates opportunities to incorporate it into existing programs."

Beyond this, the bill "highlights the importance of supporting AI literacy at every level of education and requires annual reports to Congress on the state of this initiative," Forbes said. There has been no movement on the bill since its introduction.