Social Media and Our Children

There is a growing concern on the part of many educators regarding the presence of social media on school campuses. The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (OJAAP) urges caution in regard to social media and adolescents.

I cannot, in words, convey how destructive the misuse of social media and wide range of apps “could” be for our students, especially those in Middle School, if not monitored and managed properly.  Most parental concerns are related to bullying and crude behavior toward and against other students on campus, but there are also deeper, more emotional concerns.

The OJAAP writes regarding these; “The main risk to preadolescents and adolescents online today are risks from each other, risks of improper use of technology, lack of privacy, sharing too much information, or posting false information about themselves or others.”  These types of behavior put a student’s individual privacy at risk, which delves into their emotional and spiritual well-being.

Social media apps like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat provide students a covert means to bully other students in a variety of ways.  They also provide open access to the Internet with little accountability. Snapchat is one of the worst offenders, as it offers students the opportunity to post messages that delete automatically and provides suggestive content that cannot be eliminated.

While I agree that social media is not, in itself, either inherently evil or supremely good, I would suggest that all of social media provides students with temptations that, in many cases, are too much for them to handle on their own.  This is especially true for Middle School students.  Students change more during the three years of Middle School than at any other time in the educational lives.  Social media left unchecked can be detrimental to students, especially during these Middle School years.

I recently read an article which referenced Facebook and how “likes” on Facebook actually trigger the same endorphins in the brain that build addictive tendencies. I neither support or deny this claim as I have not done any research beyond the article, but I reference it as one example of how powerful and still unknown the impact of social media is on our students.

Social media can be a wonderful tool for students to use to communicate with one another, but it can also be destructive and debilitating.  I encourage you to engage your students regarding social media. Have conversations with them; examine their phone from time-to-time.  Many students desperately need this accountability because the apps themselves provide none.  The issue of social media is not going away.  Become educated on the pros and cons of social media for the sake of your students.