So Social Media, who is it for?
To many times we see students fall into the trap of posting inappropriate things on these social media sites. There is definitely a way to encourage positive use for all children. The first place we need to start is when the students are young. Some of my co-workers students are friending them on Facebook at such a young age, 5th grade!!! I think that the earlier we introduce the proper way to use the sites is to teach the students in the 4th grade. Some people may think that it is to young but when else should we start?
I completely agree we need to encourage limitations and boundaries for students in social media. I have had my 5th grade students want to friend me on FaceBook, follow me on Twitter and follow me on Instagram. It's like the unspoken boundaries of the student and teacher relationship has been lost. Even when my students go to middle school, I still don't friend them. I tell them that I am friendly with them, not their friend. I think establishing the teacher and student boundaries and relationships are needed as soon as they know about social media. There has to be a line when talking about personal accounts.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any teacher should friend any student on a personal social media page until the child has graduated high school; however, I think it's totally fine for an educator to create a school account for classroom use that students can access and use in educational setting.
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