Sink or Swim? Learning in the Age of Social Media

Original Post No. 4
Crystal Graham


Warning: This post contains graphic sentimentality and as such more paragraphs were used than is usual. If you are sensitive to text length or are not in the mood for a feel-good story, please exit this post immediately. Reader discretion is advised.

Something happened today.

It was shocking and perplexing and fundamentally changed the course of this post. The event was the kind of rare occurrence that makes you question everything you've come to understand and accept about the nature of what is.

Had I not witnessed it, had I not seen with my own eyes the majesty of it all, I wouldn't have believed it to be true.

Today, my 8th grade students were left unattended and acted responsibly.

To understand how monumental this is, I'll have to back track.

I'm my school's librarian, but I've also been made my school's testing coordinator. The long and the short of this meaning that I have to find creative ways to juggle my regularly scheduled classes and the management of our month-long testing. I've done this fairly successfully, no dramatic failures to speak of.

But today, I dropped the ball. Testing took longer than I expected and I forgot--actually forgot--that it was Thursday and I had a class. It took a while for it to sink in, the clues stacking up until understanding crashed down all at once. First, there was the unexplained scattering of jackets and book bags on the library floor. Then there was the confirmation from another teacher that there had, in fact, been some children in the library a while back. Then I looked at the clock. It was 12:15. Twelve fifteen.

Twelve fifteen--my 8th grade students! My 8th grade (and not particularly well-behaved) students had been left alone for THIRTY minutes. I frantically called the office, hanging up and redialing when I didn't get an answer, visions of missing limbs, and teenage pregnancies and my sorrowful face plastered over the evening news. I gave up and ran out of the library hoping that they might be in the computer lab--oh, God, WHAT would they be doing in the computer lab without supervision?

I flung open the door, terrified of what I might find, and wasn't instantly calmed by the backs of their heads. "Where," I demanded "have you been?"

"You weren't in the library," one of the more disruptive girls said evenly, "so we came in here to do work."

And that is exactly what they were doing. Quietly. Collaboratively. Intently. No one had gone looking for me in the office. No one had decided to play in the hallway. No one was off task, the two playing a computer game only doing so because they couldn't remember their password to our animation site. And even then, they were playing a work-related game.

Since the beginning of the year, our hour-long, once-a-week class has gone something like this:

1. Expectations are laid out and students are given the opportunity to work on our school TV program in the lab. They are off task, rambunctous and waste time.
2. The following week all computer privileges are taken away and they must sit quietly and do worksheets. They HATE this.
3. They promise to do better next time, beg for another chance, and they are reminded of what needs to be done.

Repeat steps 1-3.

That is, of course, until today.

But what does all of this have to do with social media?

Well, everything.

Social media is scary and the potential for harm is almost infinite. But it is also the sort of powerful, student centered technology that can change the way our children see themselves and their vital role within the world around them.

As explained in this article in The Digital Shift, students will fling themselves into the sea of social media, with or without our help.  We owe it to them to put down our fears long enough to teach them how to navigate these horrifying (satisfying) waters. Because when it's all said and done, the dangers are too great for them NOT to be exposed under a librarian's expert guidance.

But it will take trust. It will take trust that our students are more misguided than they are malevolent. It will take a trust in their innate desire for self expression and fairness. We will have to trust that our students can be trained to do the right thing when no one is looking.

But mostly, we will have to trust ourselves to be the sort of competent professionals that can teach our students to swim.

What do you think about the school librarian's role in the social media debate?

Have you ever been shocked by the ability of "trained" students to act responsibly?

Do you have an inspiring story about your students' use of social media?

I'd love to read your thoughts.