Attorney General’s Office Addresses Social Media, Digital Footprints with Students
Mrs. Goody speaks to the middle school students in the BPAC on Thursday, April 7.
As part of Benjamin’s ongoing effort to educate students about their digital footprints, and in light of inappropriate comments and gestures recently made by a small cluster of students on various social media apps, TBS invited a representative from the Florida Attorney General’s Office to speak with students.
On Thursday, April 7, Mrs. Elaine Goody spoke to the Middle School about Internet safety, the consequences of cyberbullying, and the importance of maintaining a positive and clean online presence. The assembly came on the heels of two impromptu meetings, one for middle school boys and one for middle school girls, held a week earlier. In those meetings, members of the faculty and administration warned students about inappropriate postings on social media and what the consequences, both in the present and the future, could be.
One of the more interesting slides during the presentation detailed celebrities and how they were bullied when they were younger.
During Goody’s speech, she encouraged students to build a positive online profile and to abstain from posting negative comments about others and inappropriate photos of themselves. “I thought the assembly was very informative and very necessary for the well being of the [the Benjamin Middle School,]” stated eighth grader Ashley Cousin after hearing Goody speak.
Benjamin has addressed the topic of appropriate online behavior several times throughout the year, including an assembly led by Educational Technology Chair Mr. Nicholas Crisafi at the beginning of the year outlining Benjamin’s acceptable use policy, addresses to each grade level made by Head of Middle School Mr. Charles Hagy and Dean of Students Mr. Jeffrey Cavallo, and several sessions led by the Anti-Defamation League, which named the Middle School a No Place for Hate™ for the second consecutive year this past November. Members of The Middle School Student Council even made an anti-bullying video earlier this year which was featured on WPTV News.
Despite the constant messaging about making good choices when it comes to online behavior, a small pocket of students are still struggling with handling such responsibility, which is why Goody’s address was necessary. However, Benjamin will not give up, and even plans to have a mandatory class for all sixth graders next year which will specifically focus on students’ digital footprints. “I think such a class is necessary because nearly all of the sixth graders coming into the Middle School have phones, and they need to know how to manage their time on those devices responsibly,” said Crisafi, who will be teaching the class.
Benjamin hopes that by having such classes and by continuing to talk with students, it can click “Command Q” in regard to unacceptable online behavior so it’s no longer an issue.
