A Message About Social Media

Dear Parents,

As stated in our mission, Friends Seminary strives to provide students with an atmosphere that encourages peace, respect, and understanding—in the real world and online world.

Over the past two years, our Lower and Middle School Digital Citizenship committees have been working to educate teachers and students about how to become positive digital citizens in virtual and online worlds— spaces that are relatively new to most adults but native to our children. We have recently heard concerns from students and parents about the use of social media, ranging from sites like Instagram to AskFM and SnapChat, and their impact on student relationships, inclusivity and feelings of mutual respect between peers.

For that reason we wanted to share some general guidelines as well as offer some advice on how best to support your children at home.

First, if your child is under 13, we strongly advise that you keep them from using social media as long as possible until they are actually 13. You should be aware that under the regulation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, it is illegal for children under 13 to use social media websites. These websites include many widely used tools, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the video sharing app Vine. While many of these sites seem innocuous and keep us all connected, the boundaries can be complicated for children and young adults. Even if children merely access content on these apps or sites without sharing it, they may also be exposed to images and content in their feeds that are disturbing or inappropriate. Their use of these online tools often influences their actions, relationships, and behavior at School.  

We seek your help as parents in creating a space at School that is safe for all students. We are aware that in spite of the legal guidelines, many students join social networking sites as early as third and fourth grade. While many social networking sites may help students to connect in meaningful ways, it is difficult to understand the purpose and benefit of turning a blind eye to these guidelines as adults.

 

Furthermore, we firmly believe that anonymous sites such as AskFM and Swipe do not help children in forming healthy peer relationships or sense of self. We want to encourage you to consider your own values in using technology and have a conversation with your child. Discuss what apps, social media, and photo or video sharing sites they use and see their peer community using. Please make yourselves aware and knowledgeable about these sites and review what your children see, with whom they interact and how they speak to one another on these sites.

 

Talking openly with your children can help to establish clear expectations for how to use social media respectfully and safely. Research has indicated that parental involvement can make a positive difference in how children consume and use these websites. Helping to oversee, educate and appropriately limit your children’s use of social media at home will certainly have an impact at School as well.

Earlier this year, we hosted a conversation with parents about Digital Citizenship, and you can access the slides from this talk here. To learn more about the impact of social media on adolescents, we encourage you to visit the Common Sense Media’s Parent Concerns site here.

As always, please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,