Most schools in Florida will be closed for about another month, so it’s too early to gauge what impact Florida House Bill 379 will have on teachers and students. Education researchers and policymakers, however, have differing views on whether the bill should serve as a model for other states to follow.
The law, which went into effect on July 1, essentially prohibits students from accessing social media in public schools unless explicitly directed by a teacher for educational purposes, and the Florida Department of Education It requires the publication of a social media awareness curriculum for all citizens. school. The law states that the benefits of using social media in schools include building a career or resume for future academic or employment opportunities, sharing information with family and friends, and securely connecting with other users with similar interests. are listed. Identified risks include social media addiction, publishing misinformation, negative effects on mental health, and the persistent nature of content posted on social media.
Julie Evans, CEO of nonprofit research organization Project Tomorrow and founder of the Speak Up research project, said the bill, while well-intentioned, would do more harm than good. said. Through its Speak Up initiative, the organization has surveyed approximately 75,000 people in K-12 communities across the country each year since 2003, finding out the pros and cons of social media use in schools. We conclude that it is far superior.
“There’s a lot of interest in social, emotional and mental health, and people are looking for the causes,” Evans said in an interview. Government technology. “But it could also be something else, something other than social media. Banning it completely would be like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.”
Evans said he believes Florida’s law is based solely on the negative consequences of social media use and “amplified myths and anecdotes.” This book is written from the perspective of how adults use social media, and how social media can help students form communities, learn about the world around them in engaging ways, and become more than just content creators. Instead, it ignores research that shows it is an effective tool for becoming a content creator. consumer.
She compared technology restrictions in schools to banning books.
“Kids think they’re hysterical because they can access the books they borrow from the library online,” Evans said. “It’s not something that’s going to go away.”
Still, Evans said the second part of Florida’s law mandating a social media curriculum is a good idea in theory. Schools and parents need to discuss social media use at home as well as at school, with the larger goal of helping students become media-savvy digital citizens.
“We teach them [students] “How we stay safe online is important, but how we identify bias or propaganda, or how we identify what is accurate, is not important,” Evans said. “We still don’t do a good job of teaching that.”
Evans noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed remote learning and exacerbated the disconnect between parents and schools. Schools suddenly had to make major investments in technology to implement social media platforms. But post-pandemic, there were few conversations about the additional tools students were using.
“They are [schools] I thought my parents understood,” Evans said. “What parents may not know is what the learning purpose of using technology is.”
Edward Long, director of the Center for Innovation at the James Madison Institute, a Florida-based think tank, said HB 379 passed with strong bipartisan support and no pushback from social media companies. He said the measure was “good for consumers and good for the principles of individual rights.”
“The long-term benefits exist,” he said in an interview. Government technology.
Like Evans, Long stressed that social media will never go away, and there’s no point in banning anything if people are always going to find ways to get around it. But he stressed that the law does not infringe on private lives. He has only the best interests of public education in terms of child safety and quality of instruction.
“In education settings, social media can be a distraction. It’s good to focus on learning from the teacher,” Long said. “But what did they do? [students] What they do in their private lives is between them and their parents. ”
Longe also pointed out that the law gives educators some discretion over social media. For example, YouTube is a useful tool when videos are used to supplement instruction, but when users sign on to a YouTube account to comment on videos or post their own content, they are banned. This applies to his social media use.
Although most of the policies created by the James Madison Institute remain in Florida, Longe said HB 379 is an example of state-level privacy reform that other states should follow.
In January, months before the Florida bill was signed into law, Utah State University’s Center on Growth and Opportunity released a report with recommendations for policymakers regarding social media. However, instead of calling for restrictions on youth social media use, they proposed:
- Allocate more funding to law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to combat illegal content on social media sites.
- Give companies time to report illegal content.
- Encourage social media companies to do more to educate parents and teachers about how to help teens who are harmed by social media use.
- Encourage further research into the impact of social media use on mental health.
- Don’t denigrate organizations that actively research social media use issues or companies that strive to develop safe apps and services for teens.
“While technology can play a beneficial role, there is no single technological solution or specific combination of technological solutions to the problem of online safety for minors,” the report states. . “Instead, a combination of parental monitoring, education, social services, law enforcement, and technology in conjunction with sound policies by social network sites and service providers will help address specific issues faced by minors online. It may help you deal with it.”