Rosalind Wiseman is an internationally recognized author and educator on children, teens, parenting, education and social justice. Her work aims to help parents, educators and young people successfully navigate the social challenges of young adulthood.
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Does Social Networking Have a Place at School?
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A friend of mine sent me the link to a thought provoking article on Slate.com this weekend entitled “Fifth Period is Facebook: Why Schools Should Stop Blocking Social Networking Sites.” The article makes the argument that school administrations waste their time trying to prevent kids from their natural impulse to find ways to communicate with each other using this kind of technology, and miss a huge opportunity to channel this energy into using the social networking sites for learning opportunities.
Aside from the position of the writer, Nicholas Bramble, what I found most interesting about this article was the comments section below it. The several people who posted could concur with the thoughtfulness of Bramble’s argument, but not necessarily with the day-to-day execution.
Below are a few things I was thinking about as I read this, and I’d love for people who work with kids in a school environment to weigh in. Parents, I’d also like to know what you think. What are you comfortable with your kids seeing at school? Finally, if there are kids reading this, how do you think access (either allowed or denied) affects your ability to learn in the classroom?
- There seems to be a growing disconnect or difference of opinion between parents and journalists about school administrator’s willingness to control and discipline social networking. Parents often think schools do nothing while the media seems to think school officials are too intrusive. What do you think?
- Many of the comments responding to the article were from educators who were dealing with students social networking in the educational setting. What did you think of their comments?
- Most importantly, the author makes a good point about working with teens and their desire to use social networking and other technologies. How can we embrace the technology as a teaching tool in a way that not only educates how these tools should be used within an ethical framework–recognizing the reality that they are so easily used to degrade someone or to be used as a distraction in class?
5 Responses to “Does Social Networking Have a Place at School?”
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November 16th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Oh and one more thing do not use it because u know how much curse words kids use. Yay u didnt know abot that.
November 16th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Get a grip people i am 11 years old and i see. you shouldn’t use social networking. Especially parents and teachers. i mean do u really want all of your kids to use incorrect grammer. what we should really focus on is Hhow are we going to get grades up. Also about bullying.
February 17th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
i am currently a sophomore in high school and i have had several teachers over the past couple of years who use youtube as a tool in teaching. i agree that it can be very useful and beneficial for the students because it often captures the attention of students who normally wouldnt pay attention to a certain subject or topic. it also can help some students who may not fully understand the way their teacher is explaining something. teachers should take caution though when using it, because although it can be helpful, it can also turn into a distraction just as easily. sometimes teachers will get carried away and start showing useless, uneducational videos that waste valuable learning time and if it is used too often, it takes away the main purpose of a teachers job and eliminates the needed one on one the teacher should have with his/her students. all in all, i think youtube can be a great teaching tool, but should only be used as a lesson addition and sparingly.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I am the parent of a Freshman girl and 3rd grade twins – boy & girl. All my kids are internet savvy and I monitor their computer usage. My oldest has discovered a talent and even a possible career persuit via YouTube videos. I do believe the internet can and should be used as a teaching tool but there also needs to be very close monitoring of it as well, b/c some kids will abuse it and it could become a distraction and therefore a detriment to learning.
December 30th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I teach 4th grade and some of the teachers at my school use You Tube to reinforce reading fluency. Kids suggest songs they are into and enjoy, we check out the lyrics to be sure they are appropriate, and then we locate a YouTube video that streams these songs along with the lyrics. The kids gather around the Smartboard and we all sing along. The kids LOVE this reading activity!