As a high school teacher, I am acutely aware that social media is an important part of my students’ lives. Having grown up in the 1980s and 1990s, I have always used a variety of methods to communicate with my family and friends – telephone calls, email, letters, etc. However, for most of my students, these means of communications are as archaic as the eight-track cassette was for me. They have had access to various forms of social media almost from the time they were able to type with two thumbs, so the idea of making an actual phone call seems pointless when they could just message the other person. We need not even mention the possibility of sending a letter in the mail!
Among my high school students, social media is also the way that they express their opinions and seek approval by their peers. I teach many intelligent, creative students who use social media in a positive, appropriate way to share their work, talents, and ideas with the community. Unfortunately, however, there are also many students who use social media in a way that is hurtful toward others. They post opinions that they would never say to someone in person, but because they are behind a screen, they feel somehow protected. The reality is that rude comments are just as hurtful when posted on the internet as they are when spoken. In fact, they may be more so. If a student makes a snide remark to another student in the hallway, perhaps only a handful of students overhear the comment. When one student posts a cruel rumor about another student online, however, that comment may be shared multiple times until a large portion of the school population is aware of it.
When I look at the teenagers in my high school, I see so much potential and promise for our world. Unfortunately, I also see many young people who are either unaware or do not care about the potential harm they are doing when they post rude comments or rumors about others on social media. They may think that what they post is funny and they may celebrate the number of likes that they receive, but they may also be unaware of the digital footprint that they are leaving behind. There are things that I said and did as a teenager that I would never want my employers or my students to know about today. Fortunately for me, there is no lasting record of my teenage years! For today’s students, however, the posts that they make will never truly disappear, even after they have deleted them.
If we want today’s teenagers to grow into responsible contributing members of society whose past does not follow them forever, it is essential that they learn about the effects that their digital footprints have on their future opportunities. I believe that this education needs to begin in early elementary school. If students begin to reflect upon the consequences of their actions when they are young, perhaps we can help to build a kinder society.
Growing my Classroom 