Jesse Miller – Social Media in the Classroom

10/18/2025

In this week’s class, we had another guest speaker, Jesse Miller, who spoke about technology and social media in education.

The first question he posed made me stop and think. Is technology inherently good or bad? Miller reviewed some examples, including a few social media platforms, and had us answer whether or not we thought these things were good or bad. Are phones bad? Is TikTok bad? Is AI bad? 

At their root, none of these things is inherently good or bad. Then why is there such an attitude of fear surrounding them? As Jesse pointed out, a social “kids these days aren’t like they used to be” attitude has come with any technological advancement throughout history. So far, the kids haven’t really changed all that much. Because the world of technology is advancing at a nearly immeasurable rate today, are they changing now more than before? Jesse Miller would say no. I am not convinced that children have not changed and are not significantly impacted by today’s changing world, but maybe that’s not the point. 
Putting aside an attitude of fear, what is our role as current and future educators in keeping kids safe from the potential harm of technology and social media? Neither is good nor bad, but the outcomes might be, depending on how they are used. So what are we to do? Throw the smartphones in the bin, turn off the computers, and protect the children by cutting them off from technology entirely and returning to a past where it didn’t exist? As Jesse Miller said, “We cannot prepare our youth for the future by focusing on the past, and we cannot ignore the past either”. The question that follows is: how can we teach children to have a healthy relationship with technology and social media? How should we be monitoring them in the classroom?

Educating our youth about technology and social media means understanding the risks involved instead of running from them. Jesse Miller spoke on several examples of the harm social media can inflict on children when given too much freedom. One of the biggest concerns with having children on social media is that it makes them accessible to a broader, unmonitored audience. We all know to fear the child predators who actively seek out and manipulate children via the internet. Still, there is also a seemingly less threatening force that can have detrimental impacts on a child’s safety. Their peers. Social media offers a false sense of anonymity and protection, which allows peers to be much crueler than they might otherwise be. Along with the outside world, classmates can be just as dangerous on social media. Teaching children how and when to use social media is essential, but protecting them by keeping them off of it altogether in their younger years may be as well.

As future teachers, I know social media has risks and boundaries. This includes how it can affect us professionally, how it can affect our students, and how to manage student-teacher relationships. We must consider our digital footprint throughout our careers, and keep in mind that what we put online is visible to our colleagues, bosses, and students. On this topic, my digital footprint is all but non-existent, and I will keep in mind the surrounding implications of any of my future posts if I choose to venture into the world of social media at any point. 

Jesse Miller also discussed student-teacher relationships on the grounds of social media and what is appropriate. My biggest takeaway: there is no need for teachers and students to have any contact over social media. Student privacy is sacred, and even the most innocent of intentions can go wrong when teachers cross a line. For example, Miller showed us a post by a teacher where she had a picture of one of her students on Facebook. The idea behind her Facebook page was to use it to keep in contact with past students. The alarm bells are going off. This is not an appropriate mode of communication between teachers and students. In the specific post we were shown, dozens of comments on the picture of the young female student cruelly mocked her physical appearance. The alarm bells are screaming. By posting a picture of this child on her private account, this teacher subjected her student to a broad and potentially harmful audience. There is no place for that. 

Jesse Miller left me with much to consider about technology and social media in an educational setting. I have many more questions and concerns about managing technology and social media in my future classrooms and my own life. I know this: the safety and well-being of my future students is the most important thing. Regarding social media and technology, I will conduct myself and my classroom in a way that protects my students and their privacy without cutting them off from it entirely. Teaching children how to be safe online is essential in today’s day and age.