Assistant Principal Shameka Joyner was first stunned, then dismayed by how quickly a TikTok trend spread through her school, the 720-student Pine Forest Middle School in Fayetteville, N.C. Students created fake pages on TikTok to spread rumors about their classmates.
鈥淭hey鈥檇 crop pictures of [other students鈥橾 heads onto different bodies, say humiliating things about them, or just make up stories. If we reported these pages, students would just start new ones,鈥� said Joyner.
There was no accountability either鈥攖he posters posted anonymously, and used decoy profile pictures.
鈥淪ocial media is nearly the whole foundation for conflict between students. That鈥檚 where the fights start,鈥� said Joyner.
Joyner isn鈥檛 the only school leader who would support a ban on TikTok, should Congress decide to take the drastic step.
In an informal poll of 177 educators via one of its newsletters, EdWeek found that 55 percent of principals said a TikTok ban would 鈥渕ake their jobs easier.鈥�
The complications of TikTok, they said, includes breaking up fights that start online, addressing mental health challenges that stem from online bullying, and high rates of chronic absenteeism that鈥檚 often a result of kids spending too much time scrolling through their social media on school nights.
School leaders are worried, though, that banning one app may not stem these problems.
鈥淚f not TikTok, they鈥檒l find another medium to share these viral challenges,鈥� said Kristen Peterson, the assistant principal at Chesterton High School in Chesterton, Ind. Peterson saw students destroy school property, especially bathrooms, prompted by a TikTok challenge that gripped students as they returned to their schools after the pandemic. Students feel pressured and anxious to prove themselves through these challenges, said Peterson.
鈥淓ven if we curb cellphone usage in school, kids are on TikTok and other social media at home with no monitoring. Earlier, if you were fighting in school, you could go home and get a break from it. But social media is merciless,鈥� Peterson added.
And other apps are as problematic, and harder to trace.
Scott Wisniewski, the principal of Pompton Lakes High School in Passaic County, N.J. has his eyes trained on Snapchat, the popular video messaging tool where messages are deleted within 24 hours. 鈥淎 lot of negative comments are made on Snapchat and there鈥檚 no way of tracing them back when students complain to us.鈥�
Preempting harm is hard. School leaders are trying
Wisniewski wants to limit the use of cellphones in his school, to limit how much time his students spend on social media. It鈥檚 a tricky balance to strike, especially when teachers need to give out quizzes or take quick online polls.
For example, the state of Indiana has enacted a cellphone ban in classrooms. Peterson said enforcing that has helped to some extent. 鈥淭hey still use it in the cafeteria, so it鈥檚 an ongoing battle to control usage,鈥� said Peterson.
Curbing cellphones is one strategy, but school leaders are trying to do more than just react.
Peterson鈥檚 high school, for instance, has instituted an in-house group of teachers who create curriculum to address the use of social media. The modules, dispensed to students through SEL advisory sessions, focus on topics like how to be a good digital citizen. The group can create lessons based on specific issues that students are facing.
鈥淲e recently had the group create an advisory on what鈥檚 okay to send via email. Students were sending each other inappropriate emails,鈥� said Peterson.
Joyner has a more hands-on approach with her middle school students, by starting a conversation with them about positive social media usage. Joyner visits her classrooms every week, which helps her gauge if a TikTok trend, or a video, has caused any disruptions among students.
She provides incentives for good usage and disincentives鈥攍ike a cancelled field trip鈥攊f she finds students in a particular class or grade making inappropriate comments on social media.
Joyner鈥檚 also candid with her students about the harm social media can do. She tells them about instances of bullying, discusses mental health issues that lead to suicide, and how they can get in trouble with the law for posting inappropriate content. The direct approach has worked, Joyner says, and decreased the number of negative posts by students.
For Wisniewski, conversations on the appropriate use of social media are most common when students in his high school start their college applications.
鈥淚 tell them, just like we look up prospective teacher candidates on social media, colleges are going to comb through their social media presence,鈥� said Wisniewski. He tells them that once they post on TikTok, or any other site, the content belongs to the company, and is 鈥渙ut there鈥� for prospective colleges and employers to review.
As creators, principals can model good behavior
Wisniewski has tried another strategy鈥攖o turn social media into a force for good.
He鈥檚 one of several educators who have a TikTok or Instagram account, which they use to share stories about their school, or tips for fellow educators. Wisniewski鈥檚 been posting on his school-focused Instagram account for over 100 days now, and his feed consists primarily of the schools鈥� achievements.
鈥淚 believe parents and the larger community should hear from me outside of school events,鈥� he added. His posts, he added, are also an advertisement targeted at new teachers, who may be encouraged to apply his school.
Joyner also uses her own TikTok account to model good online behavior for her students by showing them the contrast between her 鈥減ositive鈥� posts about the school, and the 鈥渘egative鈥� ones they post about their peers.
The posts, Wisniewski said, have helped establish a two-way communication channel with students and parents.
鈥淚 think adults are still feeling their way through social media. We haven鈥檛 modeled great behavior online, for our kids to follow,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 actually hopeful that this generation of kids will figure out positive uses of social media.鈥�
Until then, Wisniewski thinks a ban might curb discipline issues in the short run.
