Social Media In Schools

The other day my two middle school kids brought home a paper that really concerned me. 

It was a letter from their school system's Early Childhood Office asking for permission for my kids (and all kids in middle/high school) to access social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to enhance the curriculum covered in class. In a nut shell, the schools want to know if the students can access social media during school time.

My kids are 13 and 12, and they aren't allowed to access these sites at home, so I don't want my kids setting up an account at school without my supervision.

I am definitely not giving them my permission to access these sites at school, but I'm really wondering what the schools plan to use the sites for to begin with?

There have been lots of news stories about kids getting targeted online by bullies, especially the teens and pre-teens. Why would the schools want more kids on these sites - when they offer no educational value?

Their school system is quite high tech. However, they already have a website that allows parents and students to check grades, get important info and more. They also use https://www.edmodo.com/ so kids and parents can contact teachers, homework reminders, project details, etc.  They even offer text and phone messages for important information, so there are tons of ways for parents and staff to get in touch with each other.

So my big question is would you approve your kids setting up and using social media during the school day?

Would you be more likely to let them use it if they were 17 or 18 years old as opposed to 11 or 12?