Social Media - Just4SBMs

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Social media

How prepared is your school?

Mobile technology and easy access to social media tempt the unwary to share what they assume are private thoughts, with a world-wide audience. Alan Cowley asks “How prepared is your school to cope with current and future issues presented by this technology?�

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just4SBMs n ISSUE 29 Autumn 2012

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t was about 4:30 on a clear June afternoon when we pulled out of the side road from our village onto the main road to our local town. My wife was driving and soon reached the road’s 50mph limit so that she wouldn’t cause the queue of cars behind us to brake and bunch. Ahead, there was a gap of 300-400 yards to the next group of cars, and passing them coming towards us was a line of perhaps 5 or 6 cars. As they had just left some traffic lights the road in front of them was clear.

Our first indication that all was not well was when the first car coming towards us started to move into our lane and take up a position coming at us head on.

For what must have been tens of yards the car held its position.

As the oncoming car neared we could clearly see that the driver’s head was looking down. Only her left hand was visible on the steering wheel. My wife thrust her hand into the centre of the steering wheel sounding what seemed an all too ineffectual horn, as she braked and prepared to take evasive action.

The head of the driver in front jerked up. I will never forget the look of horror on her face as she placed her right hand, the hand still holding her mobile phone, on the wheel as she tried to swerve around us...

more extreme than most, there are few of us who, on a daily basis, don’t see someone using a mobile phone as they drive.

For some reason, and I’m sure that one day psychologists will produce a very neat theory, the pull of social media is too great, some claim it’s addictive, and too many people show little understanding of the physical dangers that they pose to others whilst texting or phoning or reading their Facebook page at the wheel of a car. Thankfully, for most of us, the physical dangers of texting at the wheel are only too clear but what about the other dangers that surround the use of social media, the ones that aren’t so obvious? The ones that can have a direct impact on your school?

Knowing where to draw the line will always be problematic for some. The news is littered with instances of those who have failed to grasp the reach of social media. Footballers seem to make a habit of tripping up on Twitter, but teachers too have fallen foul of dropping their guard. The case of the teachers who resigned after someone had taped to the school gates a hard copy of what the teachers themselves claimed was an untrue version of their Facebook conversation, in which they appeared to make critical fun about the intelligence of people living in the school’s neighbourhood.

Although our experience was

The news is littered with instances of those who have failed to grasp the reach of social media

Or the teachers who planned openly on Facebook to meet up the next day by using the snow as an excuse for not being able to reach school. Some would argue that what is written in the privacy of your own home, or perhaps intended as a joke, has nothing to do with the school or the way that you perform your job. Perhaps the only thing these teachers were really guilty of was naivety but the impact on the school can be earth-shattering

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There are many, many educational benefits for schools using social media in its wider form and the digital technology that enables it and costly, and for good or bad, media technology has created a communication system that is capable of sharing words, images and film with millions around the world within seconds.

Ironically, for some, the term ‘world-wide web’ is being seen as a trap.

One thing that we can be sure of, the problems caused by the misuse, or careless use, of social media, will not go away and it is the negative news that always captures the headlines and shapes our opinions. There are many, many educational benefits for schools using social media in its wider form and the digital technology that enables it.

I have seen numerous examples of classes creating their own Wiki resource as a homework, and very effective peer support being given. It would be tragic if these were jettisoned in an attempt to curb the actions of a few. This means that schools need to recognise the benefits and anticipate the potential problems, ensuring that they have a meaningful, workable policy that both enables and safeguards.

All school policies are important and those where we have a statutory responsibility are often seen as a priority, but that

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I can think of no better way to use the pupil voice than through contributing to the construction of a policy on social media policy doesn’t mean that all others lack importance. I’ve certainly visited schools that have had a tick box approach to policy maintenance and with the ever-increasing demands on schools, finding time to fully consider issues so that the policies you devise truly fit the context of your school may seem like a luxury, but it can pay dividends.

We know from hard experience that the most effective policies are the ones that have wide support and where all concerned feel that they have been consulted. The most obvious example will probably be the section of your school’s Behaviour Policy that refers to Bullying. Most schools report that their pupils feel that they really have ownership of this, that they respect it and have high expectations that it will be enforced.

I can think of no better way to use the pupil voice than through contributing to the construction of a policy on social media. We must never lose track of the fact that the SLT and governors are ultimately the school’s decisionmakers, and contributions to the debate by all stakeholders should be seen as that, but we shouldn’t underestimate the

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capacity that pupils can have for providing rational, sound advice.

Like it or not, mobile phones and the social media they give access to are part and parcel of the lives of young people We always recommend that if any policy is to be effective (and let’s face it, as far as Ofsted are concerned a policy is not effective unless it can be demonstrated to be so) it should be underpinned by a meaningful vision. By opening up the discussion of this vision to all stakeholders you send a very powerful message that social media is something that is going to be viewed seriously – moving it into the realms of an educational tool and not a ‘toy’ – and I would suggest that it is its use as a ‘toy’ that causes the problems.

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Like it or not, mobile phones and the social media they give access to, are part and parcel of the lives of young people. You’ll find that they have a vested interest in using it wisely.

Most of the problems that I encounter with social media and its supporting technology have their genesis in someone not thinking things through. A full consultation process creates an automatic awareness of this and how such situations can be avoided, thus being an educational process in itself by providing food for thought that some stakeholders might not have previously considered.

It could make an effective scheme of work for Citizenship, sustainable on a year by year basis as each successive group considered the new developments in social media and how they impact upon the school.

I always find it remarkable that one of the most common arguments against the use of social media in schools is its potential for misuse by the pupils. Such fears tend to be unfounded. Obviously, the use of social media presents temptations that some might find hard to refuse but a clear set of

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guidelines and a determination that they will be met is usually enough to ensure successful implementation. I always like to quote the BECTA research that came out in the mid-2000s and showed that those members of your school who were most at risk from social media were not your pupils but your young teachers! The creation of a social media policy provides them with a prompt to clear their home page of any embarrassing

photos and to ensure that the levels of security are such that only those they can trust have access to their page. Teachers are in a uniquely vulnerable position and I know that many feel awful about rejecting a request from a new ‘friend’. Perhaps one of the new skills we have to develop as a profession is the understanding of what a ‘friend’ really is.

A Social Media Policy provides the linkage between a Communications Policy and a Safeguarding Policy

A Social Media Policy provides the linkage between a Communications Policy and a Safeguarding Policy. It demonstrates that the school is facing the challenges of the 21st Century and is considering how digital technology can be used to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

s SLT Discussion Point e of digital us the for 1. What is our vision s have a policy that equip technology and do we ? dia me l larity of socia us to deal with the popu approach to policy ard nd 2. Does our sta e pitalise on the expertis formation allow us to ca rs? lde ho and opinions of all stake Policy cross ns tio ica un mm Co r 3. Does ou ng rdi Policy? reference our Safegua

It also provides a process by which schools can have greater confidence that they are prepared to embrace the benefits of digital technology

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and where necessary, when rules are transgressed, there are tangible consequences for those concerned.

Oh, and by the way....she gained control of her car and missed us by a few feet! n

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