Open Letter to PAMS Community: Social Media Safety
Dear Princess Anne Middle School Parent/Guardians,
I am writing today to both share a concern and to request your assistance. Recently we have seen an unfortunate rise in physical confrontations between students. While we handle this on a case by case basis and assign disciplinary consequences per the Code of Conduct, my message today is related to the actions of non-combatant students before, during, and after a physical confrontation.
The primary areas of concern are the use by students of social media to instigate an incident and to revisit it afterwards in negative and derogatory ways, and the propensity for a large number of students to take video of the incidents.
We need your help.
What can you do?
Set aside time to have a frank conversation with your child about the proper use of technology and making right choices vs. wrong ones. Taking a video of a fight is a violation of the VBCPS Code of Conduct, and students who do so are subject to discipline. There is also a moral issue: students who take videos of fights and post them to social media and/or who take part in commenting and taunting on social media are celebrating an act of violence against a child as well as exacerbating the problem. It is quite simply wrong, and it works in direct conflict with all of our and your efforts to keep children safe.
Please reinforce the messages we are sending. We tell students constantly that when they are aware of a threat to the safety of any young person that it is their responsibility to take steps to prevent the threat from becoming a reality. This includes coming forward to let an adult know in advance of an incident, whether a parent or school official, or intervening to stop an incident once it has begun, preferably by calling for an adult. To stand idly by taking video is a rejection of this responsibility, and by extension creates an even greater threat to safety.
Monitor your child’s activities on social media. I know this can be exhausting, but if the goal is to keep children safe, we must do it. Once videos are posted online, an alarming number of students, even students we know to be dedicated scholars and good citizens, will post comments that are often vulgar, hateful, taunting, or incendiary. And, of course, once posted, they are public and nearly impossible to erase. We know this because often transcripts of these interactions are provided to us and/or the police. Much of what is posted rises to the level of cyber-bullying, which is both illegal and a violation of the Code of Conduct.
We are all members of an outstanding community, and we share the common goal of protecting the safety of our children and of raising them to become outstanding citizens. We will continue our efforts to teach young people good digital citizenship as well as to emphasize the ways they can help us to keep the school safe. School safety is our top priority, but we cannot do it alone. Students, parents, and community members also have responsibility for keeping us safe. I appreciate any efforts you might make to ensure your children understand their role in maintaining a safe and positive school environment and the importance of it.
If you need resources or additional talking points, I direct your attention to http://www.vbschools.com/BeSocial/, VBCPS’ effort to focus on digital citizenship, and http://www.edutopia.org/article/digital-citizenship-resources.
Thank you for the efforts you have made and will continue to make to ensure we keep our children safe and on track to become great citizens.
Best Regards,
D. Alex Bergren
Principal
Princess Anne Middle School