Nurturing Well-Being in Times of Isolation

Social Media

I WILL ADMIT THIS: My perspective on the value of social media has changed rather dramatically in recent years. I did not see much benefit at first.

During my time as an assistant principal, I seemed to be dealing every day with disagreements or slights involving students or be-tween students and parents around some aspect of social media. Students would view a passive-aggressive post and immediately feel the comment was directed toward them. Teens would see peers posting plans for a gathering and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) would set in, causing feelings of isolation, fear and sadness. I could not see any good relating to the use of Twitter, Facebook or other platforms.

After becoming a principal and now a superintendent, I have come to see enormous advantages for social media tools in a school system. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google Suite have been tremendous for sharing useful resources and circulating school information.

But the goal for use of social media in our school district extends importantly beyond communicating information.