When you are a teenager, you never really think about the consequences of what you post online. When I was growing-up social media was brand new, so there weren’t adults telling us to be wary of what we post on the internet. Thankfully, I am someone that does not post on social media but instead uses it as a place to connect with family and friends. I think it even nowadays, kids know the consequences of posting inappropriate photos online but still feel a need to do it. This is similar to smoking in the sense that the consequences aren’t immediate, making it hard to grasp why they shouldn’t do it. I think as educators our job is to simply educate and explain to students the future consequences that can happen when social media is not used appropriately. I think having a professional like Jessie come into a classroom to discuss social media is important, because the professional can answer questions students might have or can offer tips or examples of situations. I think Jessie’s lecture was very useful to me. The lecture gave me useful tips like changing my social media names and making sure privacy settings are high. It has also brought to my attention some of the parent-teacher dynamics that can occur. I realize that information that I learned from this lecture should be on my radar as I enter the profession of teaching. I found this blog useful, as it to summarizes what Jessie said in the lecture (Rachel, 2016). The blog has a list of suggestions for teachers to follow if they chose to have social media accounts, like not friending students on social media until they have graduated or making sure profile photos are appropriate (Rachel, 2016).

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Rachel. (2016). 10 SOCIAL MEDIA RULES FOR TEACHERS. American Board Blog. Retrieved from https://www.americanboard.org/blog/10-social-media-rules-for-teachers/