Preparing the Next Generation for the Effects of Media.
“How can parents and/or educational institutions help guard against online harassment of their children/students?”
The BIG Question…HOW DO WE PROTECT THE YOUTH FROM THE DARK EFFECTS OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVEN SOCIETY????? The answer…we don’t. Instead of wasting our time protecting them from something that they will inevitably experience several times in their lifetime, we teach them how to master it.
Social media is and will likely continue to be a considerable part of our current society. Our best defence is to learn how to use it properly and successfully. There is no doubt that every person will experience some online bullying spurred by social media platforms, to say they wouldn’t would be shortsighted. However, by understanding social media’s purpose and taking it for what it is we can propel this bullying backwards. The thing is…social media represents often a highlight reel of someone’s life, it shows their most proud and special moments, their prettiest photographs, and their most interesting experiences…this leads to inevitable jealousy from others who compare themselves to these exceptional experiences they see online. We have all been the victims and the villains of this situation and the best way to protect our future youth from this fate is to teach them to not seek out validity and self-worth from the opinions of others online.
This issue may not be the online harassment but instead the way we choose to interpret it. We will never be able to find a way to end cyber bullying once and for all, but what we can do is find a better way to handle it. We need to teach to the future generation what we wish we had learnt before the rise of social media, self-awareness and self-confidence. We are more than we post online and we are better than how many likes we get on a photo. Until we understand that we will always fall victim to the negative effects of harassment online. That is the key to mastering social media…understanding it doesn’t validate our importance. Once we are capable of recognizing this we will be able to use and interpret social media in a productive and effective way leading us to our best success online.
