Note: I used ChatGPT to help me with my outline for this post. If any ideas were taken directly they are italicized and cited as such.
#NeverAgain
A story that is unfortunately all too familiar. On February 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 17 people lost their lives that day. (BBC.com) Four short days later, an activist movement emerged with a name, policy goal, and plan for a nationwide protest. (newyorker.com)
The #NeverAgain movement was one that spoke to me in a massive way. I remember thinking about the comments I’d hear regularly about “kids these days” and go back to this example… kids these days have the tools and drive to really make an impact in the world. Heck, kids these days are doing a lot more than I ever would have dreamed of.
One of many powerful speeches given by X Gonzalez, a survivor of the Parkland Shooting.
This is just one example of how social media has become a powerful tool for advocacy and discourse. (ChatGPT) It gives our students a power that we haven’t seen before to really create real change when used for online activism. Online activism can be thought of as a “…form of activism that uses the internet and digital media as key platforms for mass mobilization and political action” as we saw in the example above. (Britannica) As educators, how important is it for us to model this to our students and provide meaningful examples of just how powerful social media can be for GOOD?
Make it Meaningful
Ever heard of slacktivism? Slactivism is a term that “…gained popularity in the late 1990s to mock the way people were willing to support a cause… as long as it didn’t cost real-life time or money.” (Kyi & Kyi)
The first example of slacktivism that comes to me is Movember. It’s a great movement to raise awareness about men’s health, particularly in the areas of mental health, testicular cancer and prostate cancer. These are things that could save a life… but what does growing a mustache have to do with that? Every Movember I see the men around me jumping onboard and working on their facial hair game, and I find myself wondering if they’re doing it as a fundraiser for the cause, or just because it’s fun to do every year. In my opinion, the intended meaning behind these popular campaigns can get lost and it’s important to remind ourselves why we are doing them. Even if it’s to spark a conversation or to donate $10, a little can go a long way.
Make the Connection between Activism and Citizenship
Katia shared some information about the Three Types of Citizens shared by Joel Westheimer. Here is a video of Westheimer describing those three types (he starts at about 13 minutes). I also summed up his words below:
- The Personally Responsible Citizen – a good person, a good neighbour. They pay their taxes, obey the law, don’t litter, get to work on time, help an old person cross the street, donate blood. The kind of person you’d want to live next to.
- The Participatory Citizen – want to emphasize participation. Students should know how government and laws work and participate in helping to make those laws a reality. A participatory citizen might organize a food drive if people were hungry in their community, and the personally responsible citizen would donate cans of food.
- The Social Justice Oriented Citizen – look at the root causes of problems and try to figure out solutions to move forward. How social change happens, how social movements happened in history.. Wanting students to participate but also ask difficult questions about how we got here, why we are here, and what we can change. These citizens would be asking: why in a wealthy country we have people who are hungry? What can we do about that? What can we do to make sure those people get fed? How can we change the structures of society? This is least represented in school-based programs.
Using social media provides an entry point for any of these three types of citizens, but I think we can all agree that the biggest impact often comes when we use it with a justice-oriented mindset.
Make Productive Conversations Possible
Right now, it’s more difficult than ever to have a productive conversation with each other online. What so many people don’t understand is that we are living in an online echo chamber… our online algorithms are putting out the information that will draw us in and perpetuate our current beliefs (whether they are right or wrong).
Last month my parents came to visit us in Moose Jaw, and were talking about the Oval Office Meeting between President Trump, Vice President Vance and President Zelenskyy.
We were all rightfully outraged at what we saw. My family discovered that we still have family that was living in Ukraine, and assisted them in leaving to start over in Canada. We watched her cousin’s wife and daughters come without him, and wait while he fought with the military in the war against Russia. It’s safe to say that we have seen one tiny part of the devistation this whole war has caused.
Anyway, my parents were shocked to see that when they shared their outrage on Facebook, they were met with negative comments. They couldn’t understand how their Facebook friends didn’t see what they saw. Being in this class, I explained this idea of the echo chamber to them. We all then sat down and googled “Zelenskyy” to compare our results, and sure enough each of us had different links pop up.
Sometimes, it’s just not worth the energy to argue with people online, especially if you consider the fact that they are being fed an entirely different narrative. It’s important to share this idea with those around us and remember that it’s okay to disagree with each other. I try to engage in conversation with people who have opposing views and see what I can learn from them. I often find that they are shocked when I explain that I understand why they see things the way that they do instead of giving in to the arguments.
Make our own Online Spaces a Positive Example
As educators, we should also take a step back and look at the example we are setting. It’s important to set a positive example for our students and everyone else that is checking in on our social media feeds. We can share context and reflection on the posts that are shared to our page, address the misinformation in a positive and constructive way instead of starting an argument in the comment section, and encourage our students to question what they read and take the time to consider more than one perspective.
Thanks for reading!