School district to parents: don’t use social media for concerns

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CRANBROOK (NEWS1130) – The Southeast Kootenay school district has sent a letter to parents asking them avoid using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram when they have school-related concerns.

The letter, signed by the district’s superintendent Lynn Hauptman and board chair Frank Lentourges among others, urges parents to avoid using social media to air concerns and specifically mentions those sites.

Social media expert Peter Chow White with Simon Fraser University says this is a first for him.

“This is unusual for an organization, especially a publicly-funded one to try and shut down modes of democratic communication or open public discourse. It’s quite unusual, I’ve never heard of that.”

The letter asks parents to come to the school district with any concerns and to lead by example for their kids when it comes to resolving a conflict.

But Chow White doesn’t see the problem.

“When adults are having communication with other adults about school issues, that’s just democratic communication.”

He says the letter’s intended goal is misguided.

“To frame it as an inappropriate means of communication is a strange way of characterizing social media.”

He says the chance for inappropriate behavior always exists.

“Of course people do things that are inappropriate on social media but communication around politics isn’t usually one of them.”

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