Social media and mental health conversations

/ Promoting Collaborative Learning Cultures / By

I was honoured to host a session called, Social Media and Mental Health at a Mental Health Summit hosted by our school this past week. I have been thinking about it ever since.

I am of the firm belief that we don’t spend enough time talking to kids about the impact social media might be having on them in a positive way. I feel like we often preach to them and tell them what not to do. I also really think we need to help kids to understand some of the ways in which social media is impacting their mental health. And so, I really wanted to give kids room to talk and reflect, and share and then create an action plan for themselves.

The bulk of the session was spent reflecting on visual provocations–Kristen Mattson (who is awesome) has curated a bunch of them on Pinterest– (her discussion cards are also really great conversation starters). I was quite explicit about including a few positive provocations as well because most of the visual depictions of social media are ones that are connected to addiction narcissism, etc… Interestingly, some kids did look at the images and speak to how it was/was not true for them which is why these can be so powerful. This image from Reddit, shared by Alec Couros provided much discussion:


I made sure to include Sylvia Duckworth’s image defining digital leadership as well. It was really interesting to have kids think about and talk about social media in those terms.

I asked kids to take notes of their thoughts and feelings in the form of a sketchnote. None of the kids in that group had ever created a sketchnote before and some of them really liked the format. More importantly, it provided reflection time and an opportunity to capture their feelings and thoughts.

We also talked about “micro-resilience” (thanks Mandy Froelich), a term coined by Bonnie St. John from the self-titled book. St. John talks about it here.We talked about what  positive self-talk looks like when it comes to social media. We shared strategies to build micro-resilience and to seek balance and joy. They talked. I listened. I re-directed only as needed.

This post, I’m 17 and I deleted all my social media accounts, would make a fascinating springboard for discussion in a class (it was posted too late for me to include in my session). Many points in the post may provoke a debate around topics such as addiction, time management, and friendships.

Here is my slide deck. Please modify the lesson or use the article as a springboard for your own discussions. Try not to let your own assumptions (addiction or fear narrative) get in the way of the discussion. This resource on Grand Conversations provides protocols and suggestions for engaging in conversations in the classroom.

Sue Thotz used post it notes to have a similar discussion:

More importantly, don’t just let it be a one and done conversation. Follow up with asking students to create a strategy for themselves and check in monthly. Teaching kids self-awareness and self-regulation are very important skills for today.

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