By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Technology has improved education for both teachers and students. But it does come with strings attached. At Tuesday's USD 428 Board of Education Luncheon at Great Bend Middle School, Counselors Brian Williams and Wendy Sundahl expressed some of the issues the school faces with technology, including bullying.
"The thing we've most come across that we really don't have a handle on is social media," Williams said. "What's going on is kids are getting on Snapchat. They're getting in groups, and they'll take pictures of somebody, and they'll make mean comments."
Naturally, that starts a back-and-forth between groups of friends. Because no side wants to be seen as weak, the comments continue. "My friend group and your friend group are constantly fighting," said Williams. "What happens is it comes into school. Even if those kids aren't in class together, they'll see each other in the halls."
A vast majority of GBMS students have their own phones. The school does have an approved policy regarding phones in its handbook. Phones are allowed in the building but are supposed to be turned off and hidden in lockers or book bags. A first violation of the policy results in two detentions, and the phone is returned to the student. A second offense means four detentions, and the phone is handed over to parents. Subsequent violations have even harsher penalties, yet electronics violations continue to be one of the top reasons for referrals in the school.
Sundahl pointed out that students do not use the standard texting app on their phones, but use apps with groups so that when one message is sent, it is seen by a large audience. When it comes to teen romance, that can be a distraction where students are sneaking off to see if their romantic interest has replied.
"They will come to me and say, 'I just can't think about school today,'" Sundahl said. "'I sent him a text on Snapchap and he's left it unopened. It's still closed. Or he opened, and I haven't heard anything.'"
While those issues may begin outside of school on private phones, another issue stems from using school-issued Chromebooks. Students have learned how to use the Google docs share feature to communicate throughout the school day. Many of those conversations are innocent, similar to note passing of generations past, but some are more nefarious.
"So you and I can talk, and we can say either appropriate things or inappropriate things or bully," Williams said. "But no one else can see it. Every now and then, if a keyword is used, some of those things will give us notifications, but what we're finding out as admins on those, we'll look that up but it won't even give us access. It will prompt us to ask permission to see that file. Do you think the student is going to give us permission to do that? We've talked to our tech department, and there's simply no answer for that because of the way Google works."
The district has tried to mitigate the effects of bullying in all its buildings. Teachers have their own forms they can fill out to keep counselors informed, and anyone can go to the district webpage and report bullying by CLICKING HERE.