Any time I think back to the first time I got chastised on a social media platform, I always let out a deep sigh with a wry smile. The worrying part is how what happened about 14 years ago still continues to get me uncomfortable and bothered.
On a good evening while resting on a couch, my Nokia X2 beeped a loud notification. Before the beep I was on 2go trying to catch up with a friend so I thought the notification was for one of his messages. I hastily checked and was disappointed when I found someone else sending me a message.
My first reply to the message wasn't the kindest of replies. But then the person sounded like an adult and introduced himself as someone who knew my dad. Not totally interested, I replied to him in bits and then stopped. A few minutes later, I got an angry message from him where he threatened to report me to my dad for being rude to him. I was shocked. I was surprised but I didn't really care. I ended the conversation instantly.
Till today I still wonder what I did wrong to warrant such an accusation. Yes, I didn't really communicate fluidly with him because I couldn't wrap my head around why a man supposedly in his 50s will be snooping around on 2go used mostly by teens and young adults. However, I was civil enough - at least that's what I thought.
Social media etiquette is a thing every student should learn. In the world we live in, social media is firmly a part of our lives. In fact, a lot of people can't go a whole day without checking out or commenting on at least one social media platform. For something that significant, learning as much as possible about the positives and pitfalls is very important.
As an educator, would I be happy to teach courses on social media to students?
As a matter of fact, I've already been involved in that on a couple of occasions. Total education is much more than teaching STEM courses or whatnot, it's also about moulding students to be good ambassadors anywhere they find themselves. What's the purpose of teaching a student Mathematics well enough that the student represented his school in a quiz competition only to snap his nudes and post it on social media afterwards? Not only will he soil his name, the school he represents will also take some knocks.
The last social media discussion I had with a couple of teenagers was so engaging that we didn't even know we delved into the difficult discussion about sex education. I never considered how intertwined those two were until I realized those guys were already doing crazy things with their social media accounts. In fact, some of them already knew the names of adult movie stars because of being exposed to and following them on social media.
Also, in a country like mine where our education majors on theoretical jargons with little practical substance, hands-on social media teachings may be what saves the next generation from walking into the same trap my generation stumbled upon. Social media is fast, practical and tasking. And with it being monetized, it's also an avenue to escape poverty for the dedicated and talented ones.
As for the downsides to teaching social media in schools, it remains the same with every revolutionary wave that has swept through the country before. One thing we've always fallen foul of is overdoing things and not knowing when to draw the lines. There was a time when everyone was a farmer. We had food but lacked education so we grew minimally. When the education wave took over, we all left the farm in search of the plum, white collar jobs (which requires less physical stress) that education promised.
Now everyone has a degree but people are more useless than before. We never drew the line where and when we should. So if social media benefits get preached to students, we may be falling into a bigger trap than the ones before. We are already struggling with teenagers sneaking out of schools to record stupid videos all in the name of creating content. What do you think they will do when they are finally given the license to delve into social media at their own whims?
