Tuesday, December 12, 2023

If you are a school leader, Facebook is awful.

I've concluded Facebook is awful.  

Despite never having a FB account or profile, I suppose it's surprising that I have jumped to that conclusion. Oh, I am sure it serves its purpose for the millions of folks who wish to stay connected, make friends, conduct business, or share family updates and photos.  I think you can even buy and sell things on something called Facebook Marketplace, and it probably has additional features I have never heard of that make FB a big part of one's lifestyle.  I suppose FB has its benefits.

Unfortunately, as a school leader, I just see the downsides.

Here's the problem:  Facebook can also be a marketplace of misinformation, innuendo, and trading in false or incomplete, even harmful, narratives. In my role as superintendent I see well meaning community members and parents believe that whatever they read on FB to be gospel and the absolute truth.  Time and again folks jump to conclusions about what they have read, and then they repost material adding their own thoughts which often takes the comments to an entirely different orbit of misleading information and falsehoods that spin out of control.  It’s like a very bad version of “telephone” with each response to a post getting further and further away from the truth and reality.

I have watched dedicated School Committee members, principals, and school staff chase down the dark FB rabbit hole because of a claim of bias, abuse, or misbehavior that was posted, sometimes secondhand, and ends up being completely false.  One parent, who recently posted about an alleged incident at a school that was later confirmed to never have taken place, told the administrator “I posted this for my friend because they are not on FB and people needed to know.”  Nope.  People do not need to know about something that never happened. Let's not amplify that comment or post which we have no idea is even accurate.

Once a partial story or alleged misbehavior about something at school is posted, it sets off a cascade of reactions (and overreactions) that cause principals to waste valuable time and resources tracking down the truth before someone is hurt.  If inappropriate student conduct is actually observed, the first place the observer should go is to the police or school principal (or my office); simply posting information about an act of bias or a student fight without notifying the appropriate staff is reckless and lengthens the time it will take to sort out what could be a genuine issue. Furthermore, staff and student reputations are on the line when untruthful, hurtful, and misleading comments are made or reposted.

The schools do not monitor FB or other social media platforms; the staff is focused each day on working directly with students and their families. Our teachers are busy, well, teaching children. Respectfully, here is my advice: If a parent or community member witnesses or even hears about a concern related to a school or student misbehavior, please contact the school’s principal and report it.  I promise you we'll take it from there and swiftly, appropriately, and fairly address the issue.

Please do use Facebook to post family reunion photos, share a business opportunity, or express an opinion.

Please don’t use Facebook to gossip, fearmonger, or spread incomplete or inaccurate information about a student, a staff member, or the schools. At a time in our country when there is fear, anxiety, mistrust and misinformation spreading with abandon, let's take this opportunity as adults to collaborate with school staff and support one another on behalf of the wonderful young people of this community.

Thanks for reading. (Feel free to post on FB😉)


8 comments:

  1. Well said, Dr. G! Here’s hoping the social media communities understand the responsibilities they have with the digital power!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. Gutekanst if you acted appropriately when the nurses repeatedly did not give my child his medication then maybe parents would not have to contact dcf, department of Education, the board of nursing and Facebook to get help.
    I contacted you many times, I have contacted the school committee and I have contacted the town doctor.
    You refused to act and protect my child's health and saftey. My pediatrician states that this is school neglect. It is illegal for your nurses to change Dr. Orders limiting medication without the consent if the parent and continue to use thise orders until the parent can contact their child's pediatrician and have the orders changed back.
    I will not stop until I hold everyone responsible for the continued medical neglect of my child!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is stopping you from giving your child medication at home prior or after the school? Some medications could cause severe side effects or cause a lot of harm? Please DO NOT make a nurse liable for something that should be a parent responsibility.

      Delete
    2. This comment contains the exact ingredients for confusion, dissent, and obfuscation that Dr. Gutekanst was trying to express frustration about.

      This post may indeed be made by a frustrated Needham parent about a legitimate issue that hasn't been properly handled by the Needham Public Schools. HOWEVER, it contains no additional details to ascertain the severity of the situation and/or whether the school system acted appropriately or not. Nor does it provide both sides of the story. And honestly, additional identifying details wouldn't be relevant or appropriate for any of us to know because of general norms for medical privacy.

      So if we don't have all of the details for this situation because the original commenter didn't include them, we are unable to accurately or adequately gauge whether the issue reported is a substantively damning one for NPS, the nurses, or Dr. Gutekanst.

      All we can collectively experience with certainty from this post are the emotions of the original commenter, which they are certainly entitled to, but there are no other clear conclusions to be gleaned from this comment.

      Statements like this original comment carry a considerable amount of emotional heft, but need to be carefully scrutinized before action is taken in response. I say all this as an educator in the Needham Public Schools and as someone who tries to develop the skills in my classroom that will allow our students to sift through comments or situations like this and make their own decisions about how to respond.

      Delete
    3. FYI a nurse has every right to make a judgement call on holding medication.

      Delete
  3. Dr.Gutekanst,

    I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for continuing to put the students and staff first. I agree with you - Facebook is awful and unfair. Those people who take the time out of their day to critique, slander, and tear apart the work that you do clearly have not seen what it takes to be an educator in todays world. The resilience, dedication, and 24/7 commitment that you show each and every day is admirable. Without the sacrifices you have made for our schools AND community, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

    Just remember that behind every awful comment is an even bigger community supporting you. As I teach my own kids, you can’t control anyone else’s behavior, and we can’t make another person want to or be able to change BUT instead we can shift our focus on investing our time and energy into those who support, encourage and empower us while we navigate the world we live in today.

    You role is hard enough as it is. Keeping doing what you do because we appreciate you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dr. Gutekanst,
    Thank you for being a great leader and role model. The teachers and all staff and especially the nurses do a terrific job. We are so lucky to have a great caring community! You are right complaints about schools/ teachers / nurses don’t belong on Facebook!!! Many angry Facebook authors just seeking attention so best to ignore and focus on the good in the community and world. Ignore the negativity.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for all the work you do Dr. Gutekanst. This is an important topic for sure. Wondering what your perspective is on teachers who communicate on Facebook? At times during the school day. (I see one Eliot School teacher in particular during the day commenting.) Hopefully there are guidelines in place for teachers as well.

    ReplyDelete