It’s no secret that many teens are online these days, and the truth is that it’s getting more difficult to monitor their behavior.
So, when a grade 9 teacher asked her students what their parents don’t know about social media, the answers were as heartbreaking as you’d expect them to be.
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It’s a different world today for students in the classroom.
Before, it was difficult enough to share computers to simply learn how to type. But now, many schools are giving students laptops and tablets to do work on.
One teacher is bringing this generational change to light in a viral Facebook post.
She’s been noticing some changes in her students that are major red flags for her regarding the current state of technology.
Skipper Coates is a junior high teacher.
Lately, she’s been concerned about the mental health of her students,; she wants to know if they’re being bullied and what their social media use looks like. She shared her concerns in a now-viral Facebook post.
“Working in a Junior High is really interesting,” she wrote.
“I see these little people in their most awkward and most emotional stage of life. I teach them science, but when I have time I try to squeeze in some life lessons and mentoring,” she said.
“But it doesn’t work if I’m not willing to really hear and understand their situations and problems,” she continued.
“Lately, I’ve been really concerned about their mental health, bullying, and social media use,” she said.
“Today I asked three of my classes to finish this sentence: ‘What my parents don’t know about social media is…'”
She was appalled by the answers she received.
Of the 85 students she asked, only five said they didn’t have any social media accounts.
I’m surprised that there were some students that didn’t have social media, quite honestly.
One of the most common confessions from many students was that their parents don’t know they even have a social media account.
iI’s getting harder and harder for parents to track which platforms their teens have accounts on, no matter how involved they are in their kids’ online presence.
One student said that they are online until the wee hours of the morning.
It’s fairly easy for anyone to take their devices to bed these days. Many parents might not realize how late their teens are online instead of getting a good night’s rest.
Privacy settings can be good, but also harmful in certain cases.
While it can keep away people you don’t know, it also means that you can hide things from people who you know would not approve of them.
Anything can be sent over Messenger, from pictures and videos to files — and teens now have the power to delete those messages.
While there are some benefits to this feature, it can create another roadblock for parents trying to monitor their teen’s online interactions.
Not all of the students’ responses were alarming, though.
As this student said, a lot of students simply use social media to escape boredom. Also, having a dedicated “spam” account is becoming the norm among teens and adults.
Social media allows people the opportunity to make many new connections, often with strangers.
One of the most troubling revelations came from this student who acknowledged that they know they aren’t supposed to talk to certain people online, but do so anyway.
The responses Coates received to this question sent up a number of reg flags, prompting her to share this post on Facebook.
Her post contained a strong message to parents:
“Parents of the world, WAKE. UP.
Your kids are living in a world that you are not invited to be part of. And they know how to keep you out. “
This teacher is urging parents to rethink giving their teen a smartphone after reading some of the students’ responses.
“Your teenager DOES NOT NEED a smartphone,” she said.
With all that happens on social media, kids can afford to hold off for a few years. They’re not going to miss out on much.
