Imagine if students in high schools started offering social media education as a course just like other subjects they offer, like literacy and computer education. This means that the students will have the opportunity to understand very well how social media works, the risks involved, and the opportunities over there, without also overlooking the downsides associated with this particular knowledge as well.
In today's digital world, social media has become a major part of our lives, including those of teenagers at the high school. A tool not just for entertainment but for connecting with others, doing business, research, learning courses, and more. However, a lot of people who use social media are naive about it; they don't understand both the positive and negative impacts it poses on the users. They get misinformation; some are victims of negative circumstances due to lack of adequate knowledge about the use of social media; some are even addicted, but then….
What if there are dedicated teachers in schools who take students in this subject and give them the right education? Sounds like a good idea but comes with a lot of concerns as well.
First of all, let's explore the benefits of educating the students all about social media. Learning effectively and being responsible on social media is one great benefit students stand to achieve. It's obvious that on social media, there are both real and fake news, there are phishing links, there are predators, and all these and more will be taught to the students: how to identify them, analyze them, protect themselves, and be on the safer side. A lot of people bully others online, and people fall victim, affecting their mental health, but with the right education, students will stay informed for their good. The mistakes others made in the past and got trapped using social media wouldn't be seen on these students because they are informed.
Also, people build their careers on social media; obviously, the knowledge of utilizing the social media tool will be impacted in the lives of these students, giving them the opportunity to learn and earn through this means, plus other advantages you can think of.However, there are some concerns...
Finding the right teachers with technical skills to nurture these students on this course might be difficult and also expensive. Secondly, when these students are highly exposed to the nitty-gritty of social media, misusing it by some students is inevitable. I heard a story of a 17-year-old boy who learned the use of social media so well to the point of manipulating the system, earning so high at his age through wrong means anyway. At a point, he boldly told his parents that there's no need for him to continue school anymore as he is now financially okay. The story is a long one, which I wouldn't want to bore you with, but the concern remains that some students wouldn't only stick with the learning the good side alone.
Children of this era are too curious; they would always want to explore and explore to discover hidden things that weren't even taught, and they could end up being too much exposed negatively and start misusing information.
Despite some downsides of this idea of incorporating social media education in schools ,I feel the advantage is more and it's important as it's something that would expose the students on the necessary knowledge they need to navigate through the online world early enough for the good-staying informed rightly.
This is my response to the #HiveLearners community contest on the topic titled, Social Media.
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