Students cautioned against misusing social media
A VETERAN educator is warning that students’ use of social media to bully others is becoming a headache for management at some schools and is contending that it needs to be nipped in the bud before it spirals out of control.
Principal of Queen’s College, Dr. David Browne, told The Barbados Advocate in a recent interview that students’ misuse of social media “is causing all sorts of problems in the school system and we haven’t started to see the beginning of it; we are at the tip of the iceberg”.
Dr. Browne said that although he has always been a firm supporter of social media and its contribution to modern communication, it must not be used to destroy an individual’s reputation.
He said that at the beginning of each school term, he usually asks his students to stay away from spreading gossip and rumours about each other, whether it is being done via the use of social media, or even through conversation.
He further noted that when addressing complaints from students that rumours are being spread about them on social media, those guilty of carrying out the act with the intention of bringing down others and causing confusion, usually use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts as their tools.
“I believe that spreading rumours and gossip was a bad thing in human existence and it is even worst now with social media, in a world where it can spread beyond the shores very quickly. It is seeping into schools as a form of bullying where students come to me and complain that so and so is putting up something on the social networks about them. I have to call the student and tell them to take it down, please don’t do that,” he said.
In the fight to keep the issue of bullying out of his school, Dr. Browne said he often encourages his charges to spend their time engaging in meaningful conversation and reading and discussing literature that will enable them to progress in their school work.
“This is what we should be doing as a people. Social media should be used for meaningful purposes and not to pull others down. I always say that I am for social media, but not when it is being used in a bad way,” he said.
Meanwhile, Principal of Ellerslie Secondary School Lieutenant Colonel Errol Brathwaite, who is also in command of the Barbados Cadet Corps, told this newspaper that he believes parents are responsible for monitoring and managing their children’s activities on social media.
“Children need to understand their moral responsibility in terms of what they do when they go on social media because if we do not be careful it can become something that is difficult to control. Then we have to let students know about the Computer Misuse Act and some adults don’t know about it. You are not supposed to keep certain things on your phone or even use the computer to cause harm or distress to others, [these] are things that we have to let our students know,” Lieutenant Colonel Errol Brathwaite said. (AH)