A community is not just an area in which you live. A community can consist of your family members, the people in your culture, the people you associate with in extra-curricular activities, or the people that belong to the same religious group as you. Adolescents develop a sense of community while interacting with these different groups. However, in the 21st century, adolescents have a new system for interacting with people: Social Media. Teens and social media is a controversial topic since there are many positive and negative effects of using it. I personally feel that using social media helps teens build a sense of interaction and develop social skills. Technology can also help in the classroom if notes or questions relating to a topic being discussed in class is posted prior to the lecture. This may lower students’ anxiety of face-to-face interaction. However, we must be cognizant of relying too heavily on technology. We still need to develop social skills in order to succeed in school and future careers. It is important to stress a balance to our students between the use of media and face-to-face interaction.

 

Teens may also develop a sense of egocentrism from social media. They may rely on the number of “likes” they receive on a post and this could impact their self-esteem either positively or negatively. It is important if we are posting on social media that we are being true to ourselves. Often times, adolescents will use social media as a façade in order to gain friendships, likes, and popularity. This can lead to negative outcomes when it comes to personal interaction.

 

The question asked of us this week is how we as teachers can influence online social networks/communities to help teens get involved in the real words. I have gathered a variety of resources that support adolescent development and how they can make a positive impact within social communities. As part of our FlexLab, we were asked to read the article “Generation Z: The kids who’ll save the world”. The article expresses different opinions on children and the effect social media has on them. It is an interesting read and has real life examples of how young teens have truly successful and changed many people’s lives. This article is inspiring for my students as it shows that social media is not always negative. Another resource I found was the website WeDay. WeDay supports youth in making a difference in their local and global communities. It is also a program that can be implemented in school programs for students to make transformational changes. The website provides a blog, videos, events, and resources for educators. It is a fascinating resource that I could easily incorporate into my curriculum. JuniorBiz is a website that promotes the success of young people. On the link I have provided, there is a page on the “Top 25 Young Entrepreneurs Success Stories”. There you can read about the various teens who have become successful entrepreneurs before the age of 18 with the use of online media. This resource would also be inspiring to students who are motivated and wanting to make a difference. These stories prove that dreams can turn into a reality. The last resource I found was an article on TeachHub that discusses 50 ways of using Twitter in the Classroom. Some of the ideas are using hashtags to do research, creating a career list, tweet about upcoming assignments, plan fieldtrips, and so much more! Already having a professional twitter account, I could easily incorporate this into my classroom.