Social media. What is social media? To some people, it’s a fun platform to chat and meet new people. Others, it is scary, dangerous and full of creepy mean people. Some girls think the filters are fun to use. Others make it their biggest insecurity and make them feel ugly. Some think it’s a way to express yourself and find new ideas. Others think it’s an endless scroll that separates people from the real world. To sum it up, some people like it, others don’t. But what do students and teachers think about it?

Fifth grader Emily Rote found social media to be something positive. The reason she believes it is because she can talk to her friends. She believes that students use social media more than teachers because students have more free time. She also likes to use her social media on the bus. She feels that social media is something that we can use in our free time and it gives us something to do.

Seventh grader Lilith Newberry feels a bit different than Emily. She found social media to be a negative thing. The reason she thought it was bad was that people fake lots of things and it’s not healthy for kids. Even though she doesn’t like social media, she mostly uses it in her room and thinks it makes time go by fast. She does think that students use social media more like Emily said.

Seventh grade Science teacher Mrs. Nyman said that she does not use social media, so it does not make an impact on her. She also says that she believes that students use it more than teachers, for socializing and communicating. She said that she hates the negative impact on society that it makes.

Mrs. Onuskanich, reading interventionist and leadership teacher, thinks students use social media more than teachers. Her reasoning was, “Because it is a part of their world because they grew up with it.” Mrs. O said that she hates the drama, but she loves how you can connect with people across the world. She claims that she uses social media the most when she has to post for PTSO, and uses it the most at home. She says we should only use social media if we can use it for good reasons to spread positivity but not hate or drama. Finally, Mrs. O said, “Social media does not affect me because I don’t get wrapped up in it because I like to be in the moment.”