I have come to the conclusion that I have a love/hate relationship with social media. We live in a 24 hour a day news cycle, meaning we are bombarded with information, media, images, and videos at an alarming rate. News is no longer confined to an hour in the evening, but instead, we pick up our phones to check what is happening in our world, in the world, at any time. That is a problem, because honestly much of the news feed is a commentary on the news, not new information on a topic itself, and that is leading us down a road of intolerance and misunderstanding.
I am part of the media frenzy. I regularly visit Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Snapchat at an alarming daily rate. I contribute and I consume media daily, if not hourly. I am part of that conversation. I also represent part of the population that is exhausted. There is so much information out there that we can’t possibly consume it all. The loudest, most extreme, usually the most irate are what is heard. It is no wonder we retreat to puppy videos and binges of Friends and the Office to escape. And escape is necessary if you are going to remain sane. I have noticed over the few years I continually reflect on the growing negativity on social media in our world. That hasn’t diminished over time, although more and more people in my circles are growing tired of it, and we do two things, get angry or retreat. There has to be another way.
As I prepare for fall, I am again reminded of the importance of teaching my students how to analyze a variety of media. With the continued need to be first, many times media outlets are less than accurate. To fill the spaces there is commentary rather than fact, and in that lies the importance of teaching students how to navigate the plethora of information that comes through their phones each and every day. Not only do we need to teach students the basic skills of research, starting with Google is not to be cited as a source, but we also need to teach the nuances of knowing who is telling that story? Who is not represented? How do we know? And where might we find additional information?
History and civic education are more critical than ever. America is not perfect, democracy is messy. But in order to “form a more perfect union” it is imperative that we stay in the conversation, and work toward compromise. We cannot debate where we are as a country if we don’t know where we came from. We cannot and should not erase history, but we must also admit that there are many stories in our past that have remained untold. It is no longer acceptable teaching practice to turn to page 24 in the history book and teach the lesson. Students must see how history relates to what is happening today. History is simply a story told, and our role as educators is to tell those stories from as many perspectives as possible. That means finding multiple sources, questioning the status quo, and pushing for a more diverse canon of historical text. I am spending my summer researching texts, visiting sites like those posted below, and seeking advice from my colleagues in order to broaden my own expertise. That is a difficult task, but one we must accept as educators if we are to empower the next generation of citizens in our country.
My initial response on Twitter
“Students must see how history relates to what is happening today. History is simply a story told, and our role as educators is to tell those stories from as many perspectives as possible. ”
Thank you. Insightful and helpful and framing a way to think about our work with young people.
Kevin