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Monitoring Children's Use of Social Media

• Disabling "Teams" Notifications and Pop Ups...On 2/19/20, we informed and trained the student body how to shut down notifications from Microsoft Teams.  While this is a Microsoft Product, students are using it as a means to chat with friends during class time, disrupt the learning environment or even worse, disrespect others.  After we teach them to disable the notifications, should the students use Teams in the future without authorization, they will be subjected to the Code of Student Conduct, specifically...inappropriate use of technology.  Please review the importance of focusing on learning rather than engaging in chatting with peers via Teams.

• Coffee Talk: Social Media and your Teens/ PreTeens. What we don't know is scary. On 11/21/19, the there was a joint presentation led by Liz Pitel, technology integration specialist.  This was to introduce and partner with parents in helping to understand the latest trends in student social media.

• "Parent's Guide to Social Media Use for Kids" Tim Elmore, author of Artificial Maturity writes an article for the journal Psychology Today informing parents about various apps or websites used to track and monitor their children's use of social media and the duration of time spent on sites.  

• "Hottest Social Apps for Trends for Teens." The website, Lifewire publishes a list of the most popular social media Apps the kids are using.  Many teens have abandoned Facebook all together.  They focus now on social media applications that are not really used by parents and sadly, some of these apps are anonymous and the children may not know who they're following or who's following them or who's commenting on their posts.

• Hidden Apps: At times students can hide various apps, pictures, settings under different lookalike apps such as the calculator app.  Please read this blog from Steve Woda who is the co-founder and CEO of uKnow, and a leader in the Internet safety and security field for over 15 years. 

Social Media and Mental Health in Teens

• "Instagram is the Worst Social Media Platform for Young People's Mental Health."  Melidna Carstensen, a Fox News reporter writes this piece highlighting studies of various social media platforms and concern about how platforms like Instagram and Snapchat can contribute to low self esteem and an increase in anxiety.

• "Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?":  Bailey Parnell, Canadian entrepreneur and social media expert, explains her research at TEDx at Ryerson University.  She asserts how we as young adults and early teens are consumed with social media and the quest for likes and follows that it can cause an addiction.  She warns us against viewing our self worth based on "highlight reels" of those we follow on social media and use the posts of others to evaluate our own lives.

• "#Being13:  Inside the Secret World of Teens":  In 2015, Anderson Cooper hosted this CNN Special Report about the social media use of teens and how if left unchecked and kept private can put students at risk of safety and social-emotional distress.  Although several years old, this documentary provides a very real/raw portrayal of what could and has happened to teens through unchecked and unflitered social media.  This video is 45 minutes and should be viewed by parents first then followed up with a conversation with their children. 

General Internet Safety and Etiquette

Internet Safety:  This page takes you to a link on the WTPS and BHMS websites about safety and talking points with your children.