Trending This Week: Students are getting around Yondr pouches, following celebrity feuds online, and maybe even losing access to social media
This week in the news, we’re seeing students getting around Yondr pouches, viral celebrity feuds influencing students, and more states implementing social media age restrictions.
As these trends pop up and impact student behavior, school culture, and classroom management, let’s explore how educators and school leaders can proactively encourage students to strike a balance, follow positive influencers, and build meaningful connections online and offline.
Are Yondr Pouches working?
The Gist: A new study reveals that students spend a quarter of their school day on their phones. Although many schools use Yondr Pouches—pouches with a magnetic lock—to keep devices secure during school hours, a recent report shows that students have found ways to break into these “phone prisons.” Educators have an opportunity to huddle with students on their phone habits and proactively empower them to manage their time better, whether they have access to phones or not.
What to Know: As schools implement Yondr Pouches to prevent students from using their phones during the school day, many students have found ways around them. Some are attempting to break into the pouches, while others hide their real phones or create realistic-looking replicas. Though students recognize the positives of less screen time, many believe Yondr Pouches are too expensive and less effective than other cell phone policies.
As screen time and smartphone usage continue to rise, researchers emphasize the importance of understanding what activities students are replacing with their increased screen time. Current social media platforms aren’t used just for consuming media, but allowing students to feel connected with friends and family without needing face-to-face interaction. To help people find real-world connections as they navigate their online lives, entrepreneur Nicola Gunby launched Cliq, a social networking app that encourages users to join interest-based communities and find events to meet in person.
TSI’s Take: With 1 in 4 students spending over two hours on their phones during the school day, more schools are considering cell phone bans. But is it enough? While cell phone policies can be helpful, they shouldn’t be a school’s only approach. Educators can help students manage their screen time by encouraging them to strike a balance rather than eliminating technology completely. This way, students can concentrate on building meaningful connections that allow them to explore their interests, helping them strike a balance between online and offline activities.
Looking for a proactive approach to empowering students to think critically about cell phone restrictions? Check out The Social Institute’s #WinAtSocial Lesson: Exploring the impact of stricter cell phone bans in schools.
Kendrick Lamar and Drake Drama: What Students Learn from Celebrity Conflicts
The Gist: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Sunday halftime show, especially his performance of “Not Like Us,” was another big moment in his ongoing feud with fellow rapper Drake. As celebrity conflicts attract viral attention on social media, these public feuds can have a big influence on students. As conversations about the feuds circulate online and in class, educators can remind students of the importance of finding positive influences and to use social media platforms to uplift and empower others rather than tear them down.
What to Know: While celebrity feuds are nothing new, these conflicts can now take on new life as events unfold in real-time on social media. Since many students are active on social media, 95% according to Pew Research Center, they are likely watching celebrities like Kendrick Lamar and Drake stir up drama online. Online celebrity feuds can impact students by shaping how they view conflict, normalizing certain ways of handling disagreements, like insults, name-calling, and cyberbullying. Educators can use these moments to discuss healthy conflict resolution, encouraging students to handle disagreements in a more constructive way and fill their feeds with positive influencers who inspire them to lift each other up.
TSI’s Take: As conversations pop up about celebrity feuds like the drama between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, educators can encourage students to think critically about the people they choose to follow and even unfollow those who no longer align with their core values. By promoting positive role models who use their platforms for good, whether through activism, mentorship, or storytelling, students can fill their feeds with people who uplift others and foster a supportive, positive community. Encourage your students to examine the actions of those they follow and seek out influencers that play their core.
Looking for more ways to help your students make positive choices when encountering negativity online? Request a demo of the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Building a Team of Positive Role Models.
Indiana, Connecticut, and Tennessee are the latest states to propose new age restrictions and education around social media for students
The Gist: According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of U.S. high school teachers consider cell phone distraction a significant issue in the classroom. States such as Indiana and Connecticut have suggested bans limiting access to social media and preventing these platforms from using their algorithms to recommend content to minors. In Tennessee, lawmakers have filed the Teen Social Media and Internet Safety Act, a bill designed to create lessons that educate students about social media and internet safety. As future-minded educators, we know it’s not enough to just restrict access for students, but instead empower students to use social media in ways that will fuel their health, happiness, and success.
What to Know: Social media plays a large role in students’ ability to learn – whether they are struggling to strike a balance and not getting enough sleep or feeling the pressure to be perfect because of what they see on their feeds. To help, many states are considering laws to limit social media’s impact on younger students by banning anyone below a certain age from social media.
However, just as students find ways around cell phone bans in school, they are savvy and could find ways around age restrictions. That’s why innovative schools, and states like Tennessee, are pushing for proactive education-based solutions instead. When schools focus on teaching students how to manage screen time, think critically about online content, and engage positively on social media, they can prepare students to navigate their online world in a way that sets them up for success.
TSI’s Take: While limiting social media use may reduce distractions in class, it doesn’t teach students how to use tech in positive, high-character ways. A more effective solution is equipping students with modern life skills, like posting with purpose, spotting misinformation, and more. Educators can huddle with students about healthy social media habits and provide them with critical thinking skills for evaluating online content. The most effective policies incorporate student input, recognizing their experiences and challenges instead of enforcing complete restrictions.
By empowering and equipping students to use social media for good, rather than scaring and restricting, schools can prepare students for their tech-fueled and social media-filled futures. Interested in learning how The Social Institute’s positive and proactive approach to modern life skills does just that? Request a demo of our turnkey lessons today.
Helping students navigate social media and make positive online and offline decisions
When students are equipped with the tools to make high-character decisions with their tech and social media, the challenges and drama from both trickle down into the classroom less and create environments where students are ready to learn. Proactively huddle with your students on these topics to understand their experiences and provide guidance on winning moves they can make, like striking a balance, playing to their core, and finding positive influences. Not sure where to start? Stay ahead of the latest trends impacting students by subscribing to The Huddle — our expert breakdown of social media, tech, and current events shaping students — online and offline.
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in empowering students by understanding students. Through #WinAtSocial, our gamified, peer-to-peer learning platform, we equip students, educators, and families to navigate their social world – in the classroom and beyond, online and offline – in healthy, high-character ways. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips, rather than scares and restricts. We incorporate timely topics about social media, tech use, and current events that are impacting student well-being and learning. #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.