Parents, Social Media, and School Messaging

For decades schools were in the driver’s seat when it came to controlling the public messaging about their programs, personnel, and students. School bonds, board elections, and controversial issues might periodically add discordant voices to the stream of school news, but would generally die down after awhile, leaving schools to control once again the flow of information.

Social media has encroached on this virtual monopoly. Many schools now find themselves in a more reactive communications mode than they are accustomed to. The barriers to entry for those desiring to reach hundreds of parents, alumni, and community members have eroded. Within minutes a Facebook group can be created and messages posted to hundreds of people. Sometimes an issue will even “go viral,” attracting tens of thousands of readers.

Schools which have jealously guarded the privacy of their students can see their efforts flaunted by a parent who posts photos, including student names, on Flickr, Picasa, or Facebook. Oblivious to school online security protocols, such parents merely want to help share the enjoyment of school event with those who could not be there. Off-campus student events can likewise be documented, with parties, sleepovers, camping trips, and the like posted for all the world to see who was there or not there, exacerbating feelings of exclusion on the part of some students.

Curriculum decisions and personnel matters that were previously handled quietly within the school administration can become the fodder for sustained online discussions, the spread of misinformation, innuendo, speculation, accusation, and distortion. The anonymity of social networks and the depersonalization of messages delivered online versus face-to-face, may foster more extreme wording and message tone.

Parents have turned to social media to press their opinions about a number of issues of concern to them:

• Cooper City (FL) parents organized to fight district boundary changes.
• New York City parents defended their children’s right to criticize a teacher on Facebook.
• Richmond (VA) parents use social networking to protest cuts in the local school budget.
• Northfield (MN) parents organized online to oppose year-round school proposal.
• Middleton (NJ) parents use Facebook to protest the removal of two popular school principals.

The implication of social media in the hands of parents and other school stakeholders to shape public opinion about schools is profound, and levels the playing field in what was largely an unequal relationship. Schools who choose to ignore this reality do so at their peril; schools who learn how to work with parents in open, respectful ways will find new allies and powerful mechanisms for spreading positive news about the school more effectively and economically. The question is not how to control parent messaging about your school, but how to engage with parents as important communication creators, editors, consumers, and advocates.

In a previous post, I wrote about how schools can use social networks for communicating to parents. It’s clear that such an approach is only half of the story. As more and more parents use social media for their own ends, it is logical that we enlist them in to help us meet our mutual ends: namely a quality education for their sons and daughters. Social media is a perfect mechanism for this partnership.