Caring for students experiencing poor mental health and well-being from social media use

As a secondary school teacher, I have observed the increase in social media use that has continually been occurring in the classrooms. Even in Grade 8, it is now more likely that each student owns a smartphone than not. It is becoming a social norm to possess a smartphone at younger ages. This paper combines Nel Noddings’ (1992) themes and ethics of care in the context of present children who would be considered late Generation Z and early Generation Alpha. These individuals are growing up in a different world, immersed in social media. With this paper, I claim that educators need to revise and adapt the way we care for children in schools growing up in a heavily social media influenced world. Additions to scholarly writers such as Noddings are thus needed: caring for self, caring in the inner circle, and caring for ideas. Three main elements are discussed in combination with the literature with regards to mental health and well-being: mood and anxiety disorders, addiction behaviours, cyberbullying and harmful content. These additional challenges to care in schools in our present context and understanding how social media has changed the children we teach will ultimately help educators serve their needs. Considerations towards the classroom, the educational system, further research, and personal implications are discussed to reduce the negative impacts of social media use towards the mental health and well-being of adolescents.Not peer reviewedcapstoneNoddingsethics of caresocial mediaFOMOmental healthadolescent