The current generation of students have been shaped by smart phones and social media. How does this impact our program? What are the issues? How do we avoid them? (Including samples of training and policies.) Facilitators: Don Bork and Graciela Waen

1. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Social Media
Best Practices and Policies

2. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Social Media
Best Practices and Policies

3. 2018 YEO Preconvention
iGen/GenZ and Social Media
•Social life is social media/phone
centered
•Constant interaction and feedback
•Less and less real life interaction
•Nomophobia/FOMO
•Not like previous generations of
exchange students

4. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Psychological Impact…
“Across the board, over and over there was
this pattern, that around 2011-2012, anxiety,
depressive symptoms, clinical depression and
suicide rates all started to go up across many
different surveys ... It's big and it's sudden and
it's just such an unusual combination.”
Dr. Jean Twenge
Professor of Psychology
San Diego State University

5. 2018 YEO Preconvention

6. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Constant Contact with “Home”
•Social media/phones enable
immediate interactive contact with
friends/family at home (including
voice and video)
•Interferes with cultural adjustment
and language learning
•Parents are a real-time
presence/challenge/puppet
masters

7. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Constant Contact with Other Students
Hopefully they will support and
encourage each other.
BUT….there’s also a risk of:
•“Everyone else is having a great
time and I’m not”
•Cyber-bullying / online mobs
•Meeting up with other students is
easy

8. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Public Image/Negativity
•Their concept of what is private or
public is different
•Public negative comments can
complicate relations with host
club/families/schools
•The wrong public posting can kill
our program..

9. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Other Issues
•Cyber-relationships/sex
•Balance between positive usage
(with host country friends) and
negative usage (with home)
•Breaking old rules in new ways
•Other phone apps/distractions
(video, audio, games, etc)

10. 2018 YEO Preconvention
What Can We Do?
Train
•students and their parents
•host families and YEOs
Monitor
•intervene if necessary
Have a Policy and Rules/Limits

11. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Outbound Training
•Ensure they understand the
risks/challenges
•Encourage them to:
•switch apps/language
•take a break from social media
•set their own limits
•Parents need training as well…
•Feel free to adapt from our
materials

12. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Monitoring
•Connect with your students on
social media (before they leave or
arrive)
•Monitor
•time spent online
•what is happening / what they are
saying
•Provide feedback / intervene if
necessary

13. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Inbounds - Policy and Rules
•Explain “Why”
•Make clear what is:
•prohibited
•limited and/or discouraged
•Explain consequences
•Make sure families and YEOs/YECs
are aware
•Feel free to adapt from our
materials

14. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Inbounds – To Think About…
•When/where should a phone be
used? Not used? (culture/family
specific)
•How frequent should contact be
with family/friends at home?
(messages/voice/video)
•What apps/activities are
prohibited?
•What should be shared (and not)?
•Should phones be taken away?

15. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Emoticon Quiz

16. 2018 YEO Preconvention
Jean M. Twenge
Have Smart Phones Destroyed a Generation?
iGen
Pew Research
Social Media Use in 2018
The Economist
How heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness
Sample Training Materials and Policies
-will be posted to yeoresources.org
-available from don.bork@rye6330.org or grawaen@gwaen.com
Materials