Collective Citizenship
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It takes a village: For all students to have the opportunity to learn and achieve, school must be a safe and inclusive environment for all.
The LA Times recently ran a story about the surgeon general’s public advisory regarding youth mental health, including reference to the adverse effects of technology on young people. According to the article, the advisory is a call to action from government, social media companies, community groups, schools, teachers, parents and even students. Recent social media trends have gained momentum that challenge its young users to participate in unique ways. While most social media engagement is silly and fun, some can be dangerous stunts, elicit violence including creating false profiles and initiating threats, and most currently via Instagram, creating phony school accounts that aim to target other students. MUSD administration has noticed a serious uptick in these fake school page accounts generated by students. Some seem relatively tame (nice cars in the campus parking lots, for example), but others encourage the sharing of photos or videos of fights, exposing LGBTQ+ individuals, cultural depictions, students sleeping, feet in bathroom stalls, as well as labeling loners, stereotypes, and students with special education needs. Principals work to dismantle these phony school accounts by private messaging the account, reporting the account to Instagram headquarters, and addressing the seriousness of the issue in school-wide announcements, but we need your help at home.
Schools ask that you speak with your child(ren) about their presence on social media and how they’re digital footprint matters. The vast and everchanging landscape of social media is far too often accompanied by students losing their way; too easily they get wrapped up in the ease of acting from behind a screen, instead of demonstrating compassion and empathy for their peers and others. Good citizenship extends into the digital world. One immediate way to resolve the issue of phony school accounts is for students to stop following the accounts. Another is to have students report the page to your school or the social media site— community members may also help report pages and flag content directly on the social platform. False profiles or content that initiates threats against the school should be reported immediately to law enforcement and school administration. For all students to have the opportunity to learn and achieve, school must be a safe and inclusive environment for all. Behaviors that aim to harass other students hinder learning from happening and have serious adverse effects on one’s social-emotional health. If your child is a victim of one of these phony school accounts, please contact your school’s administration so they may intervene and offer resources for support.
Supporting your teen (or pre-teen) on Instagram —from Instagram’s Parent Guide “We are the new generation of parents raising our children in the age of social media marvels and the task is pretty daunting. Social media has become an integral part of our children’s life. RESOURCES In this digital age, no parent can go without considering their children’s screen time and online safety. We understand that it can feel overwhelming to keep up with what our children are accessing and how much time they are spending online. The good news is, there are things you and your child can do to stay safe and enjoy participating in the online world.”
» Instagram for Parents » MUSD Socio-Emotional and Mental Wellness Resource Center » Common Sense Media - Instagram Review
