The Social Dilemma, a Netflix documentary/drama, depicted the pitfalls of social media by the tech experts who created them.The three main problems brought to light in the film: social media is intrinsically selling the userís attention to advertisers, how social media can be used to create a one-sided view of news or politics and the impact social media has on young generations. As a follow up to the first article in December, an El Paso County Colorado School District 49 high school and college adviser and counselor at Pikes Peak Early College, Dale Bonavita, answered NFH questions about her perspective on social media in schools.Social media is prevalent in everyday life; does it have a negative impact in the classroom at school?ìI think that it could, yes, because it causes rifts among students and it causes drama among students,î Bonavita said. ìWe actually had it in our school; there was somebody that had posted something on social media and rather than students listening in class, they were actually texting back and forth and talking about the social media post. So, I think it distracts students from schoolwork lots of times because it catches their eye and they want to gossip and talk about what they have seen on social media; and they also want to be like the people on social media.îNow that both students and parents are at home, is there conflict between parents and schools regarding students’ activity on the internet?ìI think itís totally situational, but I also think the reins have been loosened because parents are home trying to work and kids are home trying to learn,î Bonavita said. Social media can be addictive, she said. Kids might be exploring social media like Facebook, TikTok, etc., because they have more time and maybe less structure, she said. Exploring social media outlets can be good or bad, depending on the situation.What is the mental health impact of social media as it relates to students? ìI think that it could be both advantageous and positive as well as definitely negative and detrimental,î she said. Itís positive because it connects students; if the student gets a lot of ìlikesî related to his or her post, itís positive, Bonavita said. ìFor instance, I put a post out about Baby Yoda and you put a post out about Baby Yoda, and you get 100 people to comment about yours, and I get two people to like my post,î she said. The person who gets only two likes might feel sad or disregarded.On social media in general, Bonavita said, ìYouíre getting influenced by people youíve never met, you have no idea what their values are, where they come from, what their upbringing was. I mean maybe they live in a cabin in the middle of Oklahoma, or maybe they live on the hilltops of the rich and famous.î
