Leave it to the Learners

Over the past decade, social media has gained significant grounds in terms of use among high school students in the United States and around the world.

Programs such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are just a few examples, all allowing for instantaneous sharing of both photos and messages.

While there are upsides to having the ability to remain in constant contact with both friends and strangers, several negative facets arise on daily levels, including instances of cyberbullying and child pornography, both of which are unimpeded in programs such as Snapchat, which allows users to send pictures to one another.

These sent photos can only be viewed for up to ten seconds on the receiver’s phone or device until it expires and is unable to be seen again.

Like thousands of other high schools around America, students use these apps on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, keeping them in a constant stream of exposure to people they may may follow or have added on the various programs. This makes these users vulnerable to the said downsides of these apps.

But the question of school involvement and punishment arises for instances of cyberbullying and other cases of online exploitation. Many would argue that of course, why shouldn’t school administration become involved in certain cases of social media extortion?

While some may support this viewpoint, it is important to consider the varying degrees that subjects like cyberbullying occur in.

High School relationships often give rise to these cases of cyberbullying, which is a complete waste of time for the school administration to become involved with. While students may hurt each other’s feelings with things like break ups, adolescent relationships must be kept within the appropriate spectrum of reality.

In this I mean that we are in high school, things like grades and sports and friends are important, but I’m sorry to say that things like relationships should probably take the backburner during the four most important years in youth schooling.

Other things like heated political arguments or discrepancies between students also can lead to students consulting school administrators for help, but in most cases if not all, mature handling of the situation will resolve the issues residing among social media. Apps nowadays make it as simple as clicking a button to either block or remove friends, which separates the user from whoever they may be upset by.

With this being said, it is also important to remember the Clayton environment specifically, in that it promotes self-reliance and independence. By propagating these qualities and giving every student ample opportunity to become independent students, Clayton both matures students in both an academic and social sense. Certain things must be worked out by students, as life after high school contains little to no guidance in terms of student-administration intimacy.

But this doesn’t mean you should ever go to the school for help with social media, especially in cases of illegal activities that are either documented on or facilitated through social media.

Underage drinking and other occurrences that are illegal should be either reported to the application developers or school administration, often times both.

All in all, school administration should not have a reason to become involved in the personal affairs of students except for select cases, as to uphold the Clayton legacy of student independence and autonomy that makes our school one of the best in the state.