Social Media: A Complicated Challenge

Another school year has come to an end. We did it!!  What has been one of your biggest challenges? 

As I reflect on the year, one of mine has been dealing with students who have access to social media via their cell phones, iPads, and laptops. Do you have similar concerns? How are you and your school colleagues making sense of this?

As an assistant principal at Gray-New Gloucester High School in Gray, Maine, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard: “Why can’t we just block all of those social media apps?” “Students should not have cell phones in school. If they need to use the phone, they can use the one in the Main Office.” “Students have little to no attention span today. They are just too distracted by Facebook, SnapChat, Instant Messenger, Flickr, games, and all that other stuff.” Sometimes, after listening to their concerns, I can only respond by saying, “Well, it’s complicated.”

Back in February, I heard about danah boyd’s book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. First, it helped me calm down a bit and see the world through the lens of our high school students who, like us, are trying to make sense of a wired world.

Download here

Boyd’s book is filled with solid research and intriguing stories about the teens that she interviewed. One key takeaway for me was the concept of “context collapse.” She says, “Like adults, teenagers are figuring out how to present themselves in different contexts.” Think about how we have our different contexts: our school email, our home email, Facebook, Pinterest, and different websites and apps that reflect our uniqueness. Boyd reminds us that what is different today is that all of this is so public, and that messages can be misunderstood and misinterpreted so quickly. This we do know...that the consequences can be serious, damaging, and occasionally, even dangerous for our students.

We need to teach our students how to stay safe online and how to develop clear boundaries. Is there more we can do? Keeping Kids Safe is one organization in Maine that can help. Check out these sites for more ideas: Digital Resources Roundup, Internet Safety Rules of the Road, Prevent Cyber-Bullying, and Guide to Social Media. Ways to use social media effectively are summarized here: Social Media in Schools. 

Yes, we need clear policies, procedures, and guidelines. Yet, I also believe that we need to respect and validate our students’ experiences...their need for privacy, their need for clarity and boundaries, their curiosity, and their need to engage in meaningful dialogue with caring and thoughtful adults who are willing to help them learn how to navigate through their complicated world.

So, what do you think? What are you and your schools doing to address these issues?