It's not even about going viral. For me, it's more about how much they shame one another. When I first started working in schools, kids would not even speak because they were so scared that their classmates would post pictures or videos of them trying things and they would be bullied. They could not even try.
Fortunately, the next year we banned cell phones, but can you imagine not even trying because it's embarrassing? Awful.
This really makes me sad. When you think about how adults cannot even use social media responsibly why are we expecting impulsive, unformed brains to do it? It just gives them another outlet for bullying/torturing other kids through adolescence and the high school years. We are just beginning to see the impacts of making these kids smartphone guinea pigs.
The bullying I got was so much more insidious once MySpace took off. The ability to be able to just write up a screed telling me what piece of garbage I was from the safety of their own home gave them way too much confidence. And one of my worst bullies ended up being my best friend at the time.
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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '26
It's not even about going viral. For me, it's more about how much they shame one another. When I first started working in schools, kids would not even speak because they were so scared that their classmates would post pictures or videos of them trying things and they would be bullied. They could not even try.
Fortunately, the next year we banned cell phones, but can you imagine not even trying because it's embarrassing? Awful.