Social Media from School Administrators perspective

Well all use it!  Whether it is to gain knowledge, see what others are doing, or venting we all have Facebook accounts and Twitter pages.  They are full of interesting posts that are funny, sad, and even informative.  However, from my professional experience and point of view life was a lot simpler before these applications became a part of our everyday activities.  It appears to me that while there are benefits of social media one of the biggest negatives is that society has lost its ability to communicate and to problem solve. This is especially true of many of our young people.

Instead of sitting down and discussing things and working through conflict we go to a computer screen and start typing.  Too many times we hit the send button while we are consumed with emotion and without thought of what or how the message we are sending may be percieved or the fact it may be something that 400 people should not know about you.  We rant about people and issues that in many cases should be private but it is so easy to post and then have a bunch of random people hit like or make a comment about the post providing us with a false sense of support.  Maybe it is just me but I still believe that one real hug or phone call from someone with genuine concern beats 1,000 likes.  Yes, it is easy to go on and hit like and to read a 3 or 4 sentence post about something and assume that it is factual or the truth and agree or make a negative comment.  However, the next time you go to post and then look to see how many likes you get remember all of the half hearted likes you have clicked before you get to excited.  Better yet, think about all the posts that you have read and thought to yourself why is someone making this public or that is not true before you hit send.  Take the time to learn the facts and the whole story before commenting.  Maybe try waiting 24 hrs before posting anything personal or negative and see if once the emotion has passed if you still feel the same way.  Remember nothing beats personal communication and sometimes less is more.

Lastly, as a school administrator when it comes to school business I encourage you take the time to talk to a teacher or make an appointment to sit down with myself or another administrator to find out all of the information and reasons behind things.  Yes, we all make mistakes and can always strive to do better but there is not bad intent and there are many layers behind even the littlest decision or issue.  We hold parent and community update meetings atleast 4 times a year to go over programs and to answer questions.  Please take advantage of these events and/or schedule a seperate time to meet as we have an open door policy.  While it is impossible for everyone to agree or come to a consensus all the time, atleast we can come to a position that is based on facts and mutual respect.