The Social Institute: The leader in helping students navigate social media, A.I., and device use in high-character ways
Whether they’re swiping through social media or tackling assignments on their school devices, today’s students live and learn in the digital world.
As of now, the majority of students are using smartphones by the age of 11. By the time a student becomes a teen, nearly all of their peers will have smartphones. While tech helps students connect with their peers and explore new hobbies– it isn’t without complications.
K-12 schools everywhere are faced with digital distractions, A.I. deepfakes, cyberbullying, and much more impacting their students. Without an innovative and proactive approach to social media, A.I., and tech education, these challenges can affect students’ health, happiness, and ability to learn.
Laura Tierney, Founder and CEO of The Social Institute, is no stranger to these challenges.
Seeing the need for tech education, Laura created #WinAtSocial, a comprehensive program with turnkey lessons on navigating A.I., social media, and devices to equip students with the life skills for the modern day. We sat down with Laura to learn more about how #WinAtSocial is supporting school communities and empowering students to use apps and devices in high-character ways.
A proven, effective approach to tech education
Laura grew up a digital native and got her first phone at thirteen. During her junior high years, she remembered several speakers coming to talk to her class about the dangers of cell phones and technology. “I sat through numerous school presentations of people wagging their finger at us saying how technology is terrible and how it has to go away.”
However, with 95% of teens regularly using smartphones today, we know technology is not going anywhere. Without proper education on how to navigate challenges stemming from technology, like online drama or distractions in class, students’ health, happiness, and ability to learn are at risk.
Scaring and restricting students from tech didn’t work when Laura was a teen, and it’s still not an effective approach today.
Laura reminds us that “students have technology in the classroom, at home, and during schoolwork time. All of those moments are times that could impact students’ ability to learn – for better or worse.” Students can let digital distractions get in the way of their schoolwork, or they could use tech to control tech, like using apps Forrest or Flora to help them stay focused.
“Rather than only focusing on how technology can chip away at our learning, we want to remind schools there are some tools that students might want to use that can enable their learning, focus, concentration, and all of those important executive functioning skills that us parents and educators want for kids and students.”
After working as a Social Media Manager at ESPN, and a Social Media Director at the advertising agency, McKinney, Laura saw how beneficial technology can be when used responsibly, and knew there was a better way to help students navigate it:
“What was important to me in founding The Social Institute was our mission around helping students navigate social media and technology in healthy, high-character ways. It’s not necessarily to help them use it in a certain way. So, it was focusing on teaching students how to navigate tech rather than just simply using it that was key.”
To help students navigate their social worlds positively, Laura set out to create #WinAtSocial: A positive and proactive approach that empowers and equips students with the skills to fuel their future success.
Students at the heart of #WinAtSocial
Everything done at #WinAtSocial is co-created with students. At The Social Institute, there are six core values, following the acronym SOCIAL: Students First, Ownership, Creativity, Impact, Agility, and Love of Learning. When students’ voices are amplified, they are 7x more likely to be motivated to learn, 8x more likely to be engaged in school, and 9x more likely to experience purpose in school.
“Students are so ahead of the game when it comes to technology. They want to be spoken to instead of talked down to. So, in creating #WinAtSocial resources, I am constantly thinking about the students – designing and launching everything to resonate with them in a way that they don’t feel like they’re being lectured.”
To ensure that #WinAtSocial relates to students and keeps up with their ever-changing lives online, Laura created The Social Institute’s Student Ambassador Program. These ambassadors, ranging from grades 5-12 in schools across the globe, give their feedback on every element of #WinAtSocial. They help choose relevant lesson topics, identify important trends to share with schools and empower peers in their community to use tech in high-character ways. “I feel like what gets me out of bed every morning is how much we include student voice in everything we do. That fires me up for leading an organization that cares about student voice so much.”
Laura attributes much of what makes #WinAtSocial successful to the Student Ambassadors:
“The Student Ambassador Program will always be at the heart of our work. They regularly help us understand what students are seeing in their feeds – what social situations they are navigating in the classroom, on the playground, or when hanging out with friends at a sleepover. They help us understand all of those peer-to-peer moments that impact their decision-making, and it’s helpful to hear directly from them and just like bring all of that great insight into #WinAtSocial.”
Notably, over 89% of educators see active participation among all students when running #WinAtSocial Lessons, including more reserved students. By integrating student voice across #WinAtSocial, The Social Institute engages students and makes it easy for educators and families to huddle with them on important topics.
Comprehensive & systemic: Developmentally appropriate lessons that grow with each student
When building out #WinAtSocial, Laura knew she didn’t want to create a one-and-done program. It was essential that as students grew, the lessons grew with them. To carry this out, The Social Institute researches, vets, and creates lessons that are developmentally appropriate to students in each grade level.
For example, a school teaching the importance of finding reliable information will have a 4th-grade teacher facilitate a lesson on staying smart and savvy when searching things online, while a 9th-grade teacher will run a lesson on the impact of A.I. misinformation.
Since starting The Social Institute, Laura has heard countless stories about how #WinAtSocial positively impacted educators, parents, and students alike. One school’s students petitioned to get sugary drinks removed from their school after running the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Analyzing how companies advertise unhealthy energy drinks and vaping.
Another teacher said that their class unfollowed 517 negative influences online after running a lesson about the importance of following positive role models.
Empowering students to live high-character lives spans far beyond the classroom. Through #WinAtSocial, the entire school community is equipped to support student well-being, and students are applying the takeaways from #WinAtSocial to their own lives.
Supporting the whole school community: Families, educators, and students
While building #WinAtSocial, Laura knew how essential it was to support educators and families alongside students. “What sets us apart is that we’ve aligned all the student, educator, and parent pieces. Families can huddle at home with the Social Toolkit, and then students can do it in the classroom with educators and take those skills back with them.”
To make #WinAtSocial comprehensive, the lessons and huddles couldn’t live exclusively in the classroom. Repetition is the mother of learning, so students need to continue the conversations at home that #WinAtSocial starts in class. By huddling regularly with family and educators, students build mental muscle and apply the social standards they’re taught through #WinAtSocial to their own lives.
Laura saw the impact of incorporating families into #WinAtSocial’s education right away. One of the ways The Social Institute gets families involved in this essential education is by encouraging them to create a Family Standards Agreement. After sharing this guide with one school, Laura heard from a parent whose family huddled on standards for using tech at home:
“A parent sent a photo of their refrigerator with their family standards agreement on it. They went through every question and checked off what made sense. Attached to the photo, the mom said that she sat down with her daughters and crafted this agreement together; they all signed it, and it was such a positive experience for them. I feel like that story embodies what we’re all about.”
With #WinAtSocial, students are not just building skills to help them navigate social media and tech positively. They are strengthening their relationships with their teachers, family, and peers. They are building higher levels of social awareness. They are gaining a deeper understanding of ethics and how their actions impact the world around them.
Laura envisions a world where huddling on social media, tech, and trending topics happens regularly and is co-led by students. She hopes that empowering students to use tech positively will become the norm for schools, instead of scaring and restricting. When students are empowered and equipped with the skills to fuel their future success, we all win.
Interested in exploring #WinAtSocial Lessons and supporting student well-being? Start equipping your students with the life skills for the modern-day by trying out a demo of #WinAtSocial. In the meantime, check out some of our most popular lessons for students in grades 3-12:
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students, families, and educators to make high-character decisions online and offline. Our unique, positive approach meets students where they are and incorporates everyday experiences through social media, A.I., device use, and more. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach life skills for the modern day, capture student voice, and provide school leaders with actionable insights. Through these insights, students play an essential role in school efforts to support their own health, happiness, and future success as we enable high-impact teaching, meaningful family conversations, and a healthy school culture.