There’s a downside to social media, where middle and high schoolers – and even grade schoolers — develop hobbies, connect with friends and can spend hours every day, according to an article in Education Week.
Social media can feel miserable, according to the article, for numerous reasons: not knowing how hours have gone by watching videos; obsessing over why a message has not gotten a response, comments and likes; and competing with peers for who has the most followers and postings.
“Digital agency” is needed to help the social media obsessed use the technology to enhance their well-being instead of diminishing it.
“Social media can amplify real struggles that a young person is having, it can also amplify positive sources of support and indeed be a lifeline for some young people,” says Carrie James, the managing director for the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Schools have a big role to play in supporting students’ digital agency, she says.
But how do you teach it?
1) Teachers can employ a values sorting exercise. Students select such as connection, physical health, or independence and divide them into three categories: important, very important, and most important. Teachers then encourage students to examine how technology either supports those values or gets in the way.
2) Help students identify “thinking traps.” These irrational negative thought patterns can foster beliefs that are not necessarily healthy or true, says James.
One thinking trap is called “mind reading.” It’s the assumption you know what another person on social media is thinking, says Eisha Bush, the director of education programs at Common Sense Media. Example: “I think my friend is mad at me because they did not respond to my text.”
There are other explanations. Their battery died. They’re at soccer practice. They’re driving.
Citing alternative explanations is one of three strategies Buch and James recommend for combating thinking traps. The other two: ask students to prove themselves wrong. Is there evidence that your initial reaction might be wrong? And ask students what advice they would give a friend in a similar situation. Often this is kinder and more optimistic advice than they would give themselves.
Recognizing these thinking traps as they’re happening can help students course correct relatively quickly and go a long way toward reducing negative emotions and preventing problematic behaviors, said Bush.
3) Be aware of design traps embedded in social media platforms. They keep users engaged in the platform, says Bush. A new video automatically playing after one ends or the never-ending scroll feature on a social media feed can be addicting.
4) Developing positive tech habits. Encourage students to identify their good and bad tech habits and focus on engaging in the positive ones and trying to break the negative ones.
Education Week
