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Media Worth Binging On: Two Pro-social Examples

Many students are constantly tied to their phones. As educators, we can tap into that interest—and students’ curiosity and desire for entertainment—to show them gateways to a wider worldview. 

 

Phones have an undeniable pull with many young people—and many adults—and I am concerned by the “social” apps that can replace actually talking to other real humans. I’m equally concerned by the way some of these apps foster a discourse built upon cut-downs, bigotry and hate. If our students are going to spend most of the summer on their phones, (which, in the case of my students, is probably true) perhaps we can use that compulsion to expand some horizons and create a more open-minded citizenry. I have found two highly engaging outlets that can tap into kids’ curiosity and provide some media worth binging on.

The first is the TED app. I am sure you have seen TED Talks before and know the kind of enlightening, inspiring, pro-social presentations they offer. Dan Pacholke’s talk about prison reform is a great introduction to the eye-opening and pro-social content available. His talk takes a marginalized population, that of incarcerated individuals, and challenges some of the assumptions people make about them and what we, as a society, should aspire to provide for them. Unlike many of the media images of prisoners, his talk depicts the people behind the convictions. It addresses recidivism rates and the need for services that provide possibilities of positive change. Near the end of his talk, Pacholke displays a series of images: men working with a beehive, a woman playing with a dog, a young man squatting in the sun to survey the lettuce he is growing. Like so many TED Talks, this one challenges our society’s oversimplification of prisoners as the “bad guys,” recasting them as people who should have opportunities for growth, learning and purposeful work.

Two things that make the app engaging are the way it allows users to search for videos and the variety of topics covered in the list of featured videos. Scrolling through that app on a summer day, instead of Snapchatting or playing Crossy Road, can offer students opportunities to learn something new during their free time and hearing new perspectives. Kids can also click on “Surprise Me” to further broaden their intellectual horizons. This feature is a favorite among my students. When you click on it, you are asked, “Would you like something...Courageous, Funny, Persuasive, Ingenious, Jaw-dropping, Beautiful, Fascinating, Informative or Inspiring?” You can then choose how much time you have for watching, and the app generates something amazing. Click on “Discover” and you can scroll through lists of topics based on hashtags, languages or a ton of curated playlists. 

Another form of media worth sharing with students is the slam poetry videos available on the internet. Show kids the video of Marshall Davis Jones reading his poem "Touchscreen," and you have prompted them to consider how social media can affect personal communication and interpersonal relationships. Show them "Lost Voices" by Darius Simpson and Scout Bostley, and open up their thoughts to serious topics of racial and gender equality in this country. Slam poetry as a genre is both entertaining and socially conscious. Generally short, averaging three minutes each, these videos fit right into the easily consumable content many students are used to. What’s different is that they offer something more meaningful than much of what kids are currently looking at on their screens. 

Another worry I have when summertime approaches is that, without the safe harbor of the classroom, the lives of my students will be more difficult. The phones they carry put social media on a 24-hour cycle. We all know that, for kids with phones, the amount of time they spend on them will only increase during the summer months, and we can help curate what they see. 

Part of our job is helping students navigate their cyber landscapes, teaching them how to evaluate those spaces and differentiate potentially damaging content from potentially enlightening content. We can search Twitter for people who use that platform to speak of justice and equity. We can point out videos, apps and blogs that present ideas pushing beyond snarky tweets. We can encourage them to think before they type and engage respectfully on digital media. We can help show students that phones can promote thought and meaning rather than mindlessness and negativity.

Knoll is a writer and English teacher at a public school in New Jersey.

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