Should Social Media Be Taught in High School – #JayToday | Jay Baer

Source: www.linkedin.com

I found this on LinkedIn, and it’s a really good question. Social media is part of everyone’s life–even if they don’t participate. Trends found on social media from those who are vocal impact those who don’t participate, especially when it comes to marketing and culture.

I would agree with the author’s mom, that yes, it should be taught in high school–the younger, the better. Kids are allowed, legally, to be on Facebook, Twitter, and other media outlets when they reach the ripe old age of 13. I am the mother of a 13 year old who wants to be on Twitter, but I won’t let him. I won’t let him on any social media outlet at this point simply because he’s not mature enough for it. He doesn’t understand the implications of what he might type there.

Naturally, this is the kid who told me just last night that I don’t know anything about blogging because I should be putting hashtags in the middle of my blog. Well, maybe not hashtags, kid, but really? He told me I know NOTHING about social media and blogging, yet he’s never done any of it. Umm….yeah, kid.

Since most kids are starting to get involved in social media in high school, it seems appropriate to have some sort of course or one day seminar early in the year to teach kids how to use it appropriately and wisely. As usual, the UK seems to be leading the way on these kinds of issues, and yet there are so many kids–no matter what social clas they belong to–that have smartphones in the US. This is a no-brainer, really.

What do you think? Comment below.

–techcommgeekmom

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Author: TechCommGeekMom

Danielle M. Villegas is a technical communicator who currently employed at Cox Automotive, Inc., and freelances as her own technical communications consultancy, Dair Communications. She has worked at the International Refugee Committee, MetLife, Novo Nordisk, BASF North America, Merck, and Deloitte, with a background in content strategy, web content management, social media, project management, e-learning, and client services. Danielle is best known in the technical communications world for her blog, TechCommGeekMom.com, which has continued to flourish since it was launched during her graduate studies at NJIT in 2012. She has presented webinars and seminars for Adobe, the Society for Technical Communication (STC), the IEEE ProComm, TCUK (ISTC) and at Drexel University’s eLearning Conference. She has written articles for the STC Intercom, STC Notebook, the Content Rules blog, and The Content Wrangler as well. She is very active in the STC, as a former chapter president for the STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter, and is currently serving on three STC Board committees. You can learn more about Danielle on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemvillegas, on Twitter @techcommgeekmom, or through her blog. All content is the owner's opinions, and does not reflect those of her employers past or present. View All Posts

One thought on “Should Social Media Be Taught in High School – #JayToday | Jay Baer | LinkedIn”

Jay is 100 percent right. Our high schools teach Driver’s Ed: we tell our young people that driving is a great privilege, but it entails a lot of responsibility and risk. Social media is the same.

Young people rarely think about how one lapse in judgment can hurt them: a photo, once posted, is on the Internet forever. A “friend” might turn out to be a predator. Teasing and taunting can escalate to bullying. Our kids deserve to know.

Larry Kunz says:

January 7, 2015 at 3:04 PM

Jay is 100 percent right. Our high schools teach Driver’s Ed: we tell our young people that driving is a great privilege, but it entails a lot of responsibility and risk. Social media is the same.

Young people rarely think about how one lapse in judgment can hurt them: a photo, once posted, is on the Internet forever. A “friend” might turn out to be a predator. Teasing and taunting can escalate to bullying. Our kids deserve to know.