Social Media Lesson for Middle School
While I practise my stress management unit of measurement with my 7th graders, 1 thing always pops upwards as a stressor: social media. My students talk nigh everything from feeling like to need to buy cooler things to feeling like they demand to look differently after comparing themselves to their peers and to celebrities online. Ironically, I got an thought for a lesson while scrolling Instagram. Social media can be awesome too, later on all. If social media is a stressor for your students, continue reading to find the social media lesson that was a huge striking with my middle school students!
Social Media Lesson: Social Media Stress in Teens
Warm Up:
To kick things off, I had my students piece of work with a partner to talk nigh this: how might social media touch your mental and emotional wellness? There were some really insightful thoughts that came from this activity:
- Can social media have positive and negative influences?
- If you don't use social media, can information technology still affect your mental health?
- Can y'all become addicted to social media?
Ted Talk:
After this discussion, we watched a TedTalk about exactly this. Many of the students' questions were answered by this talk!
After, we talked about highlight reels and social currency. This really resonated with my students, as they said they often deleted pictures that didn't get enough likes or felt the need to constantly check how many likes they get.
At this point, I had a few students who shared that they had actually deleted certain social media apps and talked well-nigh how they felt ameliorate. Others chimed in to say that they just unfollow accounts that make them feel bad about themselves. Some students said they could never delete apps or unfollow people for fear of being left out or making others upset. I was happy to sit back and let them take the lead on this discussion and it was a really productive talk! Simply at the end we arrived at one question: how can teens use social media in a way that doesn't crusade unnecessary stress?
Instagram Inspiration
You might remember I mentioned that my inspiration for this lesson came from Instagram. One of my favorite accounts to follow is Positively Present by Dani DiPirro. She'south an artist who posts encouraging, inspiration, and funny illustrations that I always find myself saving. She created an illustration of "apps I need on my telephone," and I knew this would be the perfect thing to show my students.
Artistic Activity:
And so, I challenged my students to create their ain telephone apps to describe things that create happiness in their lives instead of stress. There were some actually insightful responses like hugs from parents, puppy snuggles, time with a book, and more than. I won't postal service whatsoever of the students' work hither, but I will share the exemplar I fabricated to testify them:
Try it:
Is social media a stressor for your students? This activity was loose and by and large student-led, which is what I loved about it! You can download the free outline and handout for the social media lesson hither. It was a great way to get those students who do experience social media-related stress to think about alternative activities where they can put their attention.
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