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Pinterest encourages users to log off, schools pull back on Chromebooks, and doctors warn about the impact of Looksmaxxing

The Shift in Social Platforms: Pinterest encourages students to get offline

The Gist: Pinterest recently launched a campaign with a bold message: the best thing you can find online is a reason to go offline. The platform is positioning itself as a discovery tool, not a destination, encouraging users to find inspiration and then take it into real life. Meanwhile, gaming platform Roblox reached a $12 million settlement with Nevada after the state raised concerns that the platform wasn’t doing enough to protect young users. As part of the agreement, Roblox will implement stronger safety features, including age verification, stricter chat limits for minors, and tools to prevent unsafe interactions between kids and adults.

What to Know: Most platforms are designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible. Pinterest is taking a different stance, publicly acknowledging that its real value lives off the app. On the safety side, Roblox’s settlement reflects growing pressure on tech companies to take youth protection seriously. Together, these stories signal a larger shift. Platforms are beginning to recognize that young users need more than content; they need guardrails and, more importantly, skills.

TSI’s Take: Safety features can add guardrails. They cannot instill the skills to play to your core values. Students will always make the final decision online despite restrictions. Empowering students to play to their core is key to helping them make better decisions online that reflect their values. 

School leaders can encourage students to do this by: 

• Celebrating awareness as a strength. When students recognize that screen time feels draining rather than helpful, that is their values working. Name it. Reinforce it.
• Teaching the offline step. Challenge students to use tech as a starting point: find inspiration online, then create, connect, or explore in real life.
• Reframing the goal. Help students ask: Is this moving me toward something I care about or reflects who I want to be? That question is a key aspect of The Social Institute’s Standard, Play To Your Core.
• Reminding students to not rely on platforms. Roblox’s settlement is a reminder that even strong safety tools can’t replace the modern life skills students need to make good decisions online.

Awareness is a strength, not a limitation. Through the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Good Tech Choices, students explore how their tech choices reflect their values and who they want to become. 

Rethinking 1:1 Devices: Schools are starting to prioritize balance over screens

The Gist: McPherson Middle School in Kansas made national headlines after asking all 480 students to return their school-issued Chromebooks. Laptops are now kept in classroom carts and used only for specific, teacher-assigned activities. Students are taking notes by hand, reading physical books, and, according to students themselves, actually talking to each other again.

What to Know: McPherson is not alone. After schools spent tens of billions of dollars on Chromebooks, iPads, and learning apps, studies have found that digital tools have generally not improved students’ academic results or graduation rates. Schools in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Michigan are all re-evaluating heavy classroom tech use. Students at McPherson reported that since pulling back on Chromebooks, bullying decreased, classroom focus improved, and peer interaction increased. The school’s superintendent summed it up: “We’re not going back to stone tablets. This is intentional tech use.”

TSI’s Take: McPherson Middle School’s shift shows that when schools rethink constant device use, students thrive. As The Social Institute’s classroom technology policy explains, the goal is not to restrict devices but to empower students to manage their relationship with technology and avoid digital distractions. Students who learn to strike a balance with tech build a skill they’ll use for life.

What school leaders can do:

• Make tech use intentional by clearly defining when and why devices are used in class
• Teach students the “why” behind tech limits, not just the rules
• Create space for student feedback on how devices affect focus, learning, and connection
• Pair any device policy with self-regulation skills so students can manage tech use beyond the classroom

In a world where every task can live on a screen, the real skill is learning when to engage digitally and when to step back and engage directly with the people and environment around you. That’s why the #WinAtSocial approach relies on the 80:20 approach: 80% peer-to-peer, screen-free learning, and 20% tech-enabled learning. You can preview what this looks like by exploring the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Tech Balance with those around us, which helps students understand that technology should be a tool that supports learning and relationships, not something that quietly replaces them.

What Looksmaxxing reveals about boys, identify, and influence

The Gist: A social media influencer known for “looksmaxxing,” an online trend that promotes maximizing your appearance usually through extreme practices, was hospitalized during a livestream, prompting doctors to speak out about the dangers of the trend. Plastic surgeons and psychologists are now warning that the trend is fueling body dysmorphia and unsafe self-experimentation, especially among teen boys. This trend, and its consequences, is an important reminder that the pressure to look or act a certain way does not only impact girls, but boys, too. Which is why equipping your entire student body with the skills to evaluate who and what is influencing them and handle social pressure isn’t optional. It’s an essential life skill.

What to Know:  Looksmaxxing spans a wide spectrum, from basic skincare routines to dangerous behaviors like “bone smashing,” which involves physically striking the face to try to alter bone structure. Experts point to social media as the primary driver of this trend, with constant comparison accelerating into body dysmorphia as students chase procedures and changes they don’t need. Psychologists warn that filters used on social media to alter your appearance have amplified this issue as students don’t realize they are comparing themselves to digitally altered versions of others.  

Looksmaxxing is landing hardest on young boys. Historically, conversations about body image and social media pressure have centered on girls, but the looksmaxxing movement reveals a growing trend in how boys are navigating identity, masculinity, and self-worth online. When the loudest voices in a young boy’s feed tell him his jaw isn’t sharp enough or his face isn’t structured correctly, and those voices go unchallenged, the impact compounds quietly and quickly. Doctors are clear that the goal of any self-care approach should be “thoughtful self-improvement, not perfection.”

TSI’s Take: Behind every looksmaxxing video is the same message: You’re not enough. And when students repeatedly see the same message, it can make it feel like everyone is jumping on the trend, normalizing it. That’s why it’s essential to remind students that what they see online is just a fraction of what is happening in the world around them, and it’s usually altered with filters. Through #WinAtSocial, students learn how to surround themselves with positive and credible influences by being intentional about who they follow and how those voices shape their mindset, confidence, and self-worth. 

What educators and families can do:

• Help students recognize the “comparison trap” and how curated or filtered content distorts reality
• Teach the difference between healthy self-improvement and extreme practices
• Encourage students to audit their feeds and reflect on how certain creators make them feel
• Elevate real-life and online role models who lead with character, kindness, and authenticity
• Create ongoing conversations, not one-time lessons, about body image, identity, and digital influence with boys and girls

In a world where appearance-driven content and filtered realities can shape how students see themselves, the real skill is learning how to surround ourselves, both online and offline, with people that encourage authentic confidence rather than comparison. The #WinAtSocial Lesson, Positive Role Models, helps students understand that who they follow should strengthen their sense of identity and self-worth, not distort it, reminding us that social media can be a tool for inspiration and growth, not something that determines a student’s value.

As Pinterest rethinks what social media platforms are for, schools reconsider in-class devices, and doctors sound the alarm on how unchecked social media trends can impact students’ health, it’s clear that students need more than guardrails. They need modern life skills to navigate it all. That’s exactly what #WinAtSocial is built to do. Explore The Social Institute’s positive, proactive approach to empowering students to navigate social media, technology, and peer influence in ways that protect their well-being and strengthen their learning.

The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students to navigate learning & well-being in a tech-fueled world. Through #WinAtSocial, our interactive, peer-to-peer learning platform, we empower students, educators, and families to make high-character choices online and offline. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach essential skills while capturing student voice and actionable insights for educators. These insights help educators maintain a healthy school culture, foster high-impact teaching, and build meaningful relationships with families. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips students authentically, enabling our solution to increase classroom participation and improve student-teacher relationships. Through our one-of-a-kind lesson development process, we create lessons for a variety of core and elective classes while incorporating timely topics like social media, A.I., screen time, misinformation, and current events to help schools stay proactive in how they support student health, happiness, and academic success.