Should Schools Block Social Media sites on their Computers?

Originally published by Illumination Curated on Medium

Social media has enabled us to create, share, and exchange information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual constituencies and nets as an interactive technology for the past few decades. By doing so, it has also cultivated what we often receive today, the “Digital rhetoric.” One can do so by informing, persuading, and inspiring an audience through digital media composed and distributed via social media outlets.

With the increasing fluidity of human interaction with technology expansion, the scope of digital rhetoric has been inevitable. The latter is a slippery slope on the path when it comes to children’s schooling. Since social media are not public entities, that makes it even riskier. Merely because, in a private virtual public square, it is an intricate task to enforce impartiality and protect individuals from corporate tyranny and the tyranny of the masses.

Historically, even Congress and administrations have washed their hands-off regulating social media, hoping to preserve the sovereign state of the internet. Then again, that is the epitome of a double-edged sword; meaning, what should parents worry about; children brainwashed by schools or social media?

Social Media are a Private Corporation

Social media companies are private corporations, and thus, they can censor anything they desire for whatever reason. It is our responsibility to choose whether to use their platforms or not. But does that mean schools can do the same despite the students and teachers deciding to use social media platforms?

Social media may or may not be a free speech platform and often will bend their strategies to support financial success rather than being indifferent.

Social Media are for-profit. They reserve the right to block anyone and any entity from their sites. Schools likewise can ban social media too. Nevertheless, the issue is not whether they can but if they should!

Brainwashing Students and Children happen, but the question is, by whom!

Social media effort on children’s minds, self-esteem, and mental health is overwhelming. On the other hand, the school’s role in brainwashing children is an old story. The curriculums, activities, and the teacher’s stance will determine what children will take home at the end of the day.

Individual responsibility, autonomy, and parental guidance is the solution!

As long as a human being is in existence, there will be wrong and good information. And as long as we have technologies at children’s access, there will also be challenges raiding and educating those children. Furthermore, there will always be many factions with diverse ideologies and more that will increase their constituents. Thus, there is no better place to accomplish that than the schools.

Social media and the school system embody a melting pot for mainstream brainwashing with ultimate disregard for good or bad individual perceptions.

A decent way to combat the wrong ideas is with a good one.

We can only efficiently fight ideas that are not good for us is by allowing a surfeit of varied viewpoints to circulate on social media. While doing that, we must be able to provide individuals with the opportunity to evaluate the merits of each view and, in due course, make their own decision. After all, if one’s ideas are indisputably the “right” notions, they have nothing for which to worry.

The actual victim of social media censorship (under whatever rationale) is personal commitment and responsibility.

Although, parents are still the primary concierges for their teens’ internet affairs. But amid the addition of social media already little control over schooling threatens personal responsibility.

Respecting individuals’ choices and expanding options is the key to the untoward influence of social media and poor schooling practice. On the other extreme, public school policy on social media access is by the rule of the majority, where realistically, schooling must be personalized and transparent.

”Social media is an excellent tool for the exchange of ideas, share perspectives, and find better solutions to most problems. However, that is if we uphold the freedom of speech and expression in its purest form too.”

“Maybe, we are lost in the Social Media Semantics!. Maybe, we are lost in the translation and hope a for-profit corporation to recoup our sovereignty — Or is it just another pathetic imposture?” _ Dr. Adam Tabriz

“Increasing levels of body dissatisfaction is associated with the huge growth in the use of social media” _ Dr. Adam Tabriz

“Social media is the magnifying glass of our interaction with the New World. It is changing the way we look at ourselves believing that in order to be happy we must change ourselves based on those perceptions. Just be you are…. Personalize your care ….take control…!”- Dr. Adam Tabriz