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Greenville City Schools
Help Your Students
Use Their Electronic Devices Wisely
In October of this year, Greenville High School launched its “one to
one technology” initiative. The students and staff of the High School
were all provided Apple iPads to be used to help teachers instruct
students and to provide students a wider and more diverse set of tools
for learning. This step builds upon the infrastructure improvements
made at the High School over the last several years as part of the
permanent improvement program to which the District committed. Now
teachers can now utilize online resources for whole class and
individual instruction in their own rooms. Students can access
resources – including their classroom teachers – at any time and from
almost any location. All of our students are now using to the kinds of
tools and technology they will be using when they move from being
students to being workers.
With greater access to technology, of course, comes the possibility
that students will use this technology for purposes other than
schoolwork. The iPad, like all other Personal Electronic Devices (or
PEDs), is not exclusively an educational tool. The iPad offers its
users the opportunity to use technology to reach out and connect with
the world at large in a variety of ways. As our students reap the
benefits of learning how to use PEDs in the classroom, schools face the
challenge of teaching students how to use their PEDs in a manner that
is responsible, safe, and productive.
Responsible use of PEDs has been a problem ever since people realized
that they could use anonymity to use social media as a forum for mean
and hurtful speech. There is no shortage of people hiding behind the
anonymity of social media to say mean, hurtful, and frequently untrue
things about others. This is not a new phenomenon in schools; there
have always been private feuds made public by students angry at one
another. Instead of passing paper notes, today’s students post their
angry comments on social media. Because the idea of social media
implies access to the whole world, many students come to believe that
things posted about them – particularly negative things – are viewed by
the entire world. It creates a great deal of anger and stress for
students.
Parents and schools can work together to help alleviate much of the
anxiety, anger, and stress created by social media by working together
to help young people deal with social media in a healthy and civil
manner. Here are four concepts that parents should keep in mind as they
help their students deal with their social media issues.
Know your student’s social media outlets. Parents should be aware of
what social media applications students are using. Not only should you
know what apps your student uses, you should take a moment to learn
about how they are used. Recognizing what apps your student are using
will help you understand how your student – and his friends – are using
them. It does not hurt to ask your student to share his social media
outlets with you – either by letting you look at his site, or by having
your student include you as a member of his or her site. This way, you
can see exactly what is going on in your student’s digital world.
Parents should also know that there is an ongoing development of ways
to hide one’s personal identity or their access to a social media app,
so be prepared to do some research and some digging into your student’s
PED. Knowing what they are using is a good first step to making sure
your student is using social media responsibly.
Social media is NOT an outlet for negative speech. Some people would
argue that social media is the ideal place for negative speech. After
all, you do not have to give your real name; no one can see you when
you are declaring your position; and, you can always deny that YOU
posted any offensive remarks. It should, however, be clear to everyone
by now that negative or unflattering posts create significantly more
problems than they resolve.
Social media is certainly safer than having to stand up in front of
people and say things that might anger or hurt the feelings of others.
However, making angry or hurtful statements on social media will NOT
resolve any problems between people. If anything, such actions only
serve to inflame and increase the hostility between people. The old
adage, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” has
never been truer than when it comes to social media. Because ...
Social media is not a forum for resolving conflict. The only real way
for people to resolve their conflicts is to sit down, face to face,
look each other in the eye, and talk about what they feel they need.
This cannot happen on social media for the reasons previously stated.
There is no direct contact; there is no ability to judge the intentions
or feelings of others without being in the same place as they are.
Moreover, there is no sense that the individual you are dealing with is
even interested in resolving conflict when you cannot see their face,
or hear the tone of their voice. Social media may allow people to say
things to one another, but it does not always allow us to TALK or
LISTEN TO one another.
The whole world is NOT watching. After hearing of the vastness of the
Internet, it is easy to believe that the entire planet views anything
posted online; after all, it is the Internet. Surely, if I have a
social media account, there will be thousands – if not millions – of
people
following my posts! Most people’s followers number in the hundreds (if
that!), and a good percentage of those people will not bother to read
angry or negative posts. Those who DO read negative posts will either
totally believe you because you are a personal friend, and thus always
side with you; totally disbelieve you because they are friends with you
enemy, and thus will oppose you; or will ignore the argument all
together, and probably steer clear of both the poster and the website
until the hostility disappears. Just like your parents (and
grandparents), the hostilities will not go much beyond the realm of the
two people at odds with one another and a small, but possibly vocal,
group of associates. The whole world is NOT watching... really!
Personalized social media is not going away. If parents work with their
children to help them understand how to use social media, then the
experiences they have can be positive ones. Take a moment to help your
children be responsible users of social media, and both you and your
children will find that social media will not have a negative effect on
your lives.
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