Social Networking and Internet Safety in High School Classrooms

As a high school teacher, I often run across the road blocks my school district has set up to inhibit students from using social networking sites during class time. Much like parental controls this is tactical maneuver from schools intended to protect the students. Unfortunately it’s not unlike sticking a finger in the proverbial damn. The plethora of social media sites that high school students have access to is astounding. And which ones are popular or trendy changes on a weekly basis.

So while the district blocking may keep students off Facebook and a select few others, it’s impossible to block every social media site and parental contols can only do so much. Not to mention the fact that many enterprising students know how to circumvent the blocked sites, or simply avoid computers in favor of their smart phones.

I can readily say that opening the doors to social media in schools would be an asset, not a pitfall. The technology-rich lesson possibilities are staggering. In addition, integrating social networking in the classroom opens the door for conversations regarding using social media responsibly, and includes the added bonus of students being excited about the media format of a project. Social networking is a constant presence in the life of a high school student. So why not integrate that technology in the classroom and have them use it for a constructive purpose rather than a way to “tune out”?

-Artile Contributed by Kristen O'Rourke

                      Visit Our Internet Safety Resource Center                
We are pleased to announce that Bark will be taking over where we leave off. The uKnowKids mission to protect digital kids will live on with Bark. Our team will be working closely with Bark’s team in the future, so that we can continue making the digital world a safer, better place for kids and their families. While we are disappointed we could not complete this mission independently, we are also pleased to hand the uKnowKids baton to Bark.
Try Bark's award-winning  monitoring service free for 7 days

Subscribe to Email Updates

Recent Posts

Posts by Topic

see all