Being Proactive with Online Student Drama

??????????? In this Educational Leadership article, counselor/author/speaker Michael Creekmore, Jr. has these pointers for educators dealing with student-to-student conflict on social media:

???????????? Teach through real stories. “No matter how old students are, they love a good story,” says Creekmore. “When you talk to students about sticky situations you’ve experienced, it conveys understanding and normalizes their feelings” – true tales about misunderstandings, friendships in jeopardy, and social angst.

? Include digital drama lessons in counseling sessions and classrooms. Schooling students on the etiquette of social media should be handled separately from lessons on Internet predators and scams, says Creekmore. As an elementary school counselor, he conducts short, preventive lessons on the real-life consequences of online teasing and meanness. He includes pointers on being respectful online, deescalating tense situations, asking help from trusted adults, and taking intentional breaks from screens. For classroom teachers, he suggests the free digital citizenship lessons from Common Sense Education .

??????????? ? Teach students how to deescalate. Students need guidance on active listening, carefully reading online material, not making assumptions, nonverbal communication, anger management, and knowing how to walk away.

??????????? ? Increase your vocabulary. Keeping up with the shifting terminology of the digital age is “the PD you never knew you needed,” says Creekmore. A few samples:

-?? Bussin – excellent

-?? Call cap – accuse a person of lying

-?? Delulu – unrealistic beliefs

-?? Lock in – getting focused on a specific person, situation, or task

-?? Ohio – very weird, random, cringey

-?? Opp – an opponent, perceived enemy

-?? Rizz – having charisma (also a verb – trying to flirt with or charm someone)

-?? Roasting – name-calling, making fun of someone

-?? Sigma – a successful, independent, wildly popular person

-?? Skibidi – something really “bad” or really “cool” – context is key

-?? Subs – a social media item that indirectly addresses a person or situation

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“Helping Students Navigate Digital Drama” by Michael Creekmore, Jr. in Educational Leadership, November 2024 (Vol. 82, #3, pp. 36-41), summarized in Marshall Memo 1060