Why do schools have dances? Why do many high schools host parties, sometimes inter-school parties at the school?

A school isn't just a machine that puts knowledge into people's brains, it's an organization of people. And those people will want to celebrate together from time to time. This WILL happen. "official" events can be more inclusive.

But also for young people it's a part of social education, providing some baseline for how you interact with other people.

1/

@futurebird Also, you do post a lot. Because you think a lot. You're not reposting memes, or even doing the same thing over and over. You're thinking about stuff and sharing those (often very intelligent and unique) thoughts with us, which I find to be a great priviledge, and I would be SORELY disappointed in myself if I ever said anything that made you block me.

@futurebird There's something in all this that's triggering to me at a pretty deep level and I'm not 100% sure what it is. I think it has something to do with control.

As someone who was manipulated from a young age and who was bullied by kids and adults alike, the Internet for me was a necessary escape. I needed not only to communicate through text but with people outside my community. I didn't really know it at the time but I also needed a place where things wouldn't get back to my parents.

Now I don't know all the social dynamics of how school kids are using social media and I'll readily admit it probably isn't healthy. If kids are getting treated okay in the halls where teachers are watching and then cyberbullied by their peers over lunch, that's bad. And the popularity contest that is IG pretty .

But I'm not sure if social media being a direct extension of school is great, either. For the kids for whom what they say and do making it back to their community is a useful motivatior for good behavior, it may help. But for the kid who everyone has silently agreed it's okay to bully, it just extends that hell to their phone.

I think that schools should take on this role.

You could have a server for a school with mastodon, but not connected to the rest of the fedi, you could network with similar schools. Just like at the school dance the teachers are around so there are limits to how it's used.

Teens could post about their soccer games, advertise their clubs, make jokes, practice using the medium wisely.

When teens post to social media they care about their friends at school seeing the post most. 4/

@futurebird who's going to moderate?

Why do schools have dances? Why do many high schools host parties, sometimes inter-school parties at the school?

A school isn't just a machine that puts knowledge into people's brains, it's an organization of people. And those people will want to celebrate together from time to time. This WILL happen. "official" events can be more inclusive.

But also for young people it's a part of social education, providing some baseline for how you interact with other people.

1/

@futurebird I actually ... don't hate this. Supervision (i.e. moderation) is an issue, but assumably could be done similarly to sports or clubs (putting yet more burden on overworked teachers, but that's another issue.

(But also too: school dances and sporting events and yearbooks all had the express purpose of showing me just how excluded I was from the community. Same will happen with this.)

@futurebird I actually ... don't hate this. Supervision (i.e. moderation) is an issue, but assumably could be done similarly to sports or clubs (putting yet more burden on overworked teachers, but that's another issue.

(But also too: school dances and sporting events and yearbooks all had the express purpose of showing me just how excluded I was from the community. Same will happen with this.)

Why do schools have dances? Why do many high schools host parties, sometimes inter-school parties at the school?

A school isn't just a machine that puts knowledge into people's brains, it's an organization of people. And those people will want to celebrate together from time to time. This WILL happen. "official" events can be more inclusive.

But also for young people it's a part of social education, providing some baseline for how you interact with other people.

1/

@futurebird I thought it was to teach heteronormativity, cisnormativity, "proper" gender roles, etc.

@futurebird I thought it was to teach heteronormativity, cisnormativity, "proper" gender roles, etc.

@dalias

Oh that gets in the mix too. But not in the NYC city schools.

They don't really do much "romantic" dancing. They just eat all the snacks and argue about what music to play then dance in a circle.

Which is fine.

@faithisleaping

I think that adults don't do anything about the bullying and have not created any way for students to say it is happening is the real failure.

And if kids want to use the wider internet they still can. I just think what we have now is by default exclusionary since only those kids with parents who help them use the internet, or those with parents who don't care know what's going on at all.

@futurebird Yeah I imagine this has gotten a lot better since when I was there, and that it's a lot better in urban and public education settings compared to rural and private.

@futurebird @faithisleaping
Beyond just not doing anything about bullies, the school system I went to treated *me* as the problem for 1) *being* bullied, 2) honestly expecting teachers to do their alleged job in stopping bullies, and 3) just generally not fitting in (*especially* because "fitting in" is what girls are "supposed to be" good at).

I half-wonder if some faculty secretly thinks bullying is a *good* thing that punishes misfits for them.

@pteryx @faithisleaping

"I half-wonder if some faculty secretly thinks bullying is a *good* thing that punishes misfits for them."

There are adults who think this. They are real and they are incorrect.

No, I can't make an outcast kid feel like they are a part of the class 100 percent. But, I can make them feel like they are just as valued as everyone else and deserve to be treated with respect.

Teens don't like it when you point out they are being a jerk. They will stop, or tone it down.

Why do schools have dances? Why do many high schools host parties, sometimes inter-school parties at the school?

A school isn't just a machine that puts knowledge into people's brains, it's an organization of people. And those people will want to celebrate together from time to time. This WILL happen. "official" events can be more inclusive.

But also for young people it's a part of social education, providing some baseline for how you interact with other people.

1/

@futurebird

I realize this isn’t about the social aspect, but I do wish that the music at dances wasn’t at literally deafening levels. I’m fairly certain a good percentage of my hearing loss is from attending high school dances where my ears were left ringing afterwards. My two kids who attended one during their middle school years both refused to go to a second one because the decibel level was painful for them.

We don’t need to harm kids’ hearing for them to have a good time together.

@pteryx @faithisleaping

In fact, I've seen some pretty dramatic changes just from pointing out that "no one wants to be treated like that" and "you are being mean."

It's your job if you are the adult.