On October 23rd, E-block classes were canceled for guest speaker Max Stossel, an award-winning poet, filmmaker, and speaker. He spoke to Poly students and faculty during assembly in his first in-person session, as well as parents later that day over Zoom about the world of social media. Stossel engaged with Poly students by telling them to talk to someone next to them about their most freeing, happy experiences. Most of the students’ responses were from times they were not using social media. This posed the question of whether or not social media is a good environment to involve yourself in.
In addition to sharing important insights on social media, Stossel inspired many students to take steps toward limiting their time on these apps. Daniel Doughty, head of middle school, said that “a few of the kids, I think, definitely thought that they were going to delete some of the apps that they already had, like Snapchat and other social media.” He also said that “what I liked about the presentation is that it gave everyone realistic options that weren’t just ‘delete everything.’” The presentation suggested apps that would help you moderate your screen time such as “one sec.”
Middle School Counselor Tynesha Wright-Lindo explained that after she heard Stossel’s name come up in many conversations, as he was featured on CNN, BBC, and BuzzFeed, she started researching his website to get in touch with him. She said, “it sounded like it would be a good fit for students here at Poly.” Juliet Moretti, director of student support, also played a role in bringing Stossel to the Poly campus. She discussed how “we had such good reviews on him from schools that were similar in volume in terms of the impact that his assembly had and how students were talking about it and faculty and parents.” She also noted that his website, called Social Awakening (socialawakening.org), had clips of him speaking that allowed them to “research his goal in this world of social media.”
Stossel’s presentation touched upon many different points, including the way social media can consume our time and energy. Moretti further explained that his goals, “are not to scare people who are told to stop using social media. It’s fair for us to ask questions and say, hey, is what you’re doing on this app in our best interest?” One of the most important questions that she mentioned Stossel asking was, “is this [app] making you feel good?” In fact, many students realized that they don’t leave their social media apps feeling good. They often leave the apps feeling drained or bad about themselves. Samantha Menkes said, “I might delete Snapchat because I feel really drained after using it and there is no purpose and I don’t feel productive.” She adds, “I feel like real life experiences are more fulfilling.
Many wondered whether something happened at Poly to trigger the response of bringing Stossel in. Moretti answered by saying, “I don’t think there was one event or a series of events. We do see many issues across all grades around social media and the content that people are viewing and sharing and commenting on.” Although there was not one issue at Poly to trigger this response, it was necessary to bring to the students’ attention the impact of social media and to encourage some new limits. Doughty added to this point, saying, “we took it as a good opportunity to recommit to teaching kids how to use social media and how to uphold quality standards while on social media. So it wasn’t something where kids got in trouble, or anything. But we wanted to have that conversation before they got in trouble.”
There were many positive reactions from the students at Poly. Moretti said that “the kids were really engaged” and she “did see a handful of students stay after to ask him questions.” [Insert student grade level here] Sasha Gilyadoff said that “I think it was really cool how we got to see how technology can impact our brains and our daily routines so much through life.” Another student, Carolina Lisk, said “My family has always told me to get off my phone but I never realized how much my phone could affect me until this presentation.”
Moretti admitted, “all of social media is a messy and complicated and often scary world, and we knew that that was something that resonated with our students as well.” She added, “we just want to always share more resources about mental health and to help students feel more empowered to seek and find and utilize this information. That’s always first of all.”