Social Media: When WhatsApp Goes Bad
This is an edited version of a letter sent by Rob Ellis, vice principal at Scholars International Academy, Sharjah, to parents. We wanted to share it as we think it raises good points about how bullying on social media is not confined to children, but can be driven by parents as well, often perhaps without realizing they are engaging in an activity that can cause distress...
Do you remember the time that to send a written message to someone you had to use the postal service. Or indeed, remember when the only time you could collaboratively work on something you had to get everyone in the same place?
Nowadays you can speak/text/message anybody in the world at an instant, and with some messenger services, for free! You can also send you message to a group which is stored and conversations can flourish. Useful information can be shared, and social capital can increase by making use of this new ‘hive’ mind. People all around the world can collaborate in ways never thought of just 30 years ago. It is rapidly becoming part and parcel of our lives.
There are, however, dangers to this new technology.
Students’ can use it to bully others. Pictures can be placed in public forums which can never be deleted. Hate can exist online and we cannot delete it. It can fester and cause many problems for us.
Hence, we teach our students to be careful what they post online. Unfortunately, emotions do not come across in texting (Emoji’s are not the same as hearing the emotion in a voice) and so students are told to think carefully before posting anything that is meant as a joke. We also warn them about ‘Mob Mentality’. This occurs when one person’s writes a negative comment about another and then people like or add to it. Soon enough, the whole group is acting as one especially if the person is not in the group and cannot defend themselves.
Please take care when using these WhatsApp groups.
WhatsApp groups can be great for helping to remind you of events or to get things done. However, sometimes though we find that this is not the sole purpose of the group.
Parents use it to express their anger at decisions made, often without knowing the full situation. Furthermore, they can use it to discredit a teacher because of a bad grade their child achieved.
At worse, parents can use it to blame other children unfairly. When this begins to happen, WhatsApp has gone bad.
It is unfair to use WhatsApp to question a person’s ability and attempt to create a ‘Mob Mentality’ within the group against a person. I’m not sure any of us would like it if we were on the receiving end of this type of conversation.
As a school, we are here to listen to you. We have many ways you can keep up to date and we welcome contact with you. I would strongly suggest that if there is an issue that you wish to raise then please raise it with the appropriate member of staff via email as this will often yield a solution faster than posting it on a social media.
What do you think of technology, social media, and its use in the classroom? If you have strong views, you want to take part in our survey... Want to take it now? Click here to START.
