Preparing Students for Responsible Use of Social Media

Practice is about to begin, and the students appear ready to go, but on this day the coach is a little anxious and frustrated. Just an hour ago, the athletic director had a meeting with the coach regarding some of the team members inappropriately using social media, posting about the rival school they had just defeated the night before. Both the home and rival communities are upset, and the coach knows that the athletes need guidance, correction and a complete understanding of how social media can negatively impact both individuals and entire communities.

Social Media Impact
Social media is a dynamic platform for sharing information and self-expression. Within high school athletics it serves a variety of functions; players, coaches and athletic departments use social media platforms for daily communication with players, team announcements and publicizing events. Embracing social media as a neutral platform creates opportunities for student-athletes and their peers to prepare for living in a digital era as they can commemorate achievements, highlight programs on campus, and express gratitude when appropriate. With initiative, school leaders can model appropriate usage and teach the importance of preventative measures so students understand digital footprints and legal issues which could affect individuals, schools and communities.

Meaningful Career Development
Coaches are often asked to promote their programs by taking pictures, coming up with hashtags for events and publicizing results; however, employing the latest trends when posting might be the last thing on a coach’s mind. Fortunately, both athletes and non-athletes on campus may be untapped resources for promoting athletics and activities. By letting students contribute to social media accounts, including moderated content creation they can learn how to best use social media as a positive outlet. Furthermore, school leaders can educate students on how social media can have an impact on future high school events and post high school opportunities.

Having students compare their online presence to the impressions they make in front of teachers, coaches and other school staff is a start. Pointing out additional likeness between their online presence and an academic or professional reference encourages thoughtful reflection. In this way, students learn the importance of how they represent themselves, teams and school communities when being active online. Students need to understand that their posts should uphold school values so that they can be seen as positive influences for a school rather than a divisive force.

Battling Human Intuition to Respond
High school students sometimes struggle separating their real and digital identities and can sometimes post reactions that can be damaging. When commenting on a rival team’s Instagram post, firing back online to spectator remarks after a loss, or discussing hazing in a group chat, students may not conceptualize short- or long-term consequences of such actions.

Social media has an instantaneous nature, and students may feel the need to respond in the moment. School leaders can prepare student-athletes for responsible social media use with clear team policies, providing scripted responses, and promoting accessible channels for reporting online abuse or misconduct. Equipping students with sample scripts or sentence starters if they feel inclined to respond and designated reporting platforms can reduce anxiety, mitigate liability, and provide scaffolding for maintaining accountability within high school students.

Conduct Violations and Appropriate Corrections
Even with proactive and preventative measures for positive social media use, problems may still arise. Student-athletes should be informed that posts, comments and messages may have serious consequences. Although they may delete content, screenshots or hamper investigations that involve law enforcement, their online activity can be damaging. Policies and resources should be reviewed and published at the start of each school year. In addition, school leaders at preseason parent nights or team meetings should clarify expectations both verbally and in written formats.

It is also important to remember that students who respond to social media are still learning how to navigate the adult world. Coaches and school leaders are still required to follow state laws and local school board policies, but they can do so while seeking restorative consequences that foster skills to better navigate social media in the future. After conducting appropriate investigations and adhering to policies, school leaders can assist student-athletes in drafting apologies and overseeing removals of problematic content.

Tool for Amplifying Under-represented Student Groups
One positive outcome from social media is that it can be used as a tool for highlighting sports and programs that may not traditionally receive as much attention. Equal representation must now transcend into modernity and, therefore, beyond the playing field. Digital media platforms are representative of an athletic department and the greater school community.

As school leaders strive to include and represent all programs on campus, social media’s ability to reach a large audience allows for historically under-represented student populations to be celebrated regularly. It also means that individuals who oversee the school’s athletics accounts should work with players, coaches and other key stakeholders to develop and post content that highlights the contributions of all programs on a consistent basis.

Highlighting women’s athletics and other extracurricular programs on school-based social media accounts is reflective of the intentions of legislation like Title IX, which advocates for equal opportunities in athletics. Furthermore, posting about Unified Sports, athletic programming with the initiative to create inclusive and collaborative spaces between athletes with and without disabilities, brings attention to and celebrates its student participants; doing so fosters a more inclusive athletic climate and aligns with the principles of legislation aimed at equitable representation.

When used as a platform to express gratitude toward the school community, school leaders highlight the success of their athletic programs. Digital content that shows appreciation for community partners and contributors, such as custodial staff and parent volunteers, models a culture of gratitude and positive social media usage for students.

Final Remarks
Coaches and school leaders do not have to be content creation experts or the next “influencer” on a high school campus; however, they do have the responsibility of educating students on ways to be successful. In the digital era, school leaders can promote responsibility, modeling positive social media usage and can prepare students of today to be tomorrow’s leaders within a dynamic digital landscape.