Superintendent’s Message

Do Our Schools Look Like Our Country?

For years, we have shared with our audiences that public education is a reflection of society. Almost every issue our country faces is powerfully mirrored in our public schools. This has become most evident by watching the Supreme Court hearing and confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. The confirmation no longer is about the individual’s skills and abilities to perform as a supreme court justice but about accusations and social media. These are areas that our public schools across the nation are dealing with on a daily basis. Students and employees are accused and tried in social media often before school administration has a chance to even begin an investigation. Parents are aware of rumors in schools before their children get home. This is the new norm and it is also exactly what takes place in our country today.

Many have suggested removing cell phones from schools, taking us back to the “good old days” as it was just 10-15 years ago. Most of us recall our memories of high school and it appeared we operated just fine with our parents not knowing about what happened at school until we got home. Often, they may never have found out. So what changed? Our society became dependent on instant information. The transition of social media into schools was made easier by relaying that cellphones allowed parents to feel safer about their students both during school and at after-school events. We, as parents, could protect our children at all times. However, the explosion of cell phones and social media in schools was magnified as it has become vital that we now demand the most current information. The nightly news or the newspaper is outdated in less than an hour. Live broadcasts are not the future, they are constantly the present. Our students now have access to immediate information and unsubstantiated rumors. We no longer rely on encyclopedias or endless research in libraries. Google and Facebook provide it on the spot.

So, how does the influx of social media in schools reflect what is happening on the national stage with our supreme court? The burden has shifted dramatically from leaders in our school trying to provide the most productive curriculum and instruction to our students to try to balance the constant social media exposure that damages not only the school day instruction but also the livelihood of a student or staff member. Just recently, at our high school, we once again experienced a wildfire of rumors that a student mentioned that he wanted to carry out a shooting at school. Sadly, the student identified through those texts and tweets wasn’t even remotely connected to the comments. Yet, the day was spent investigating postings on social media, trying to provide as much information to parents as possible, and holding back the news media from sensationalizing an incident that never happened. Once again, the injustices of social media disrupted the education of our students. However, is not the progress of our country/government also hindered by the same? Quoting Shakespeare, “Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?”

Dr. Richard Rosenberger

Mission & Vision