social media presentation for middle school students

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Resources for parents, educators & communities.

NetSmartz: Online Safety for Middle School

Advanced Online Safety for High School

Internet Safety: Parents, Guardians & Community

Our resources for educators offer multiple ways to engage students, parents and communities in important lessons in digital citizenship and online safety. 

Empower your students to be safer online with our   free collection of teaching materials for families and students in grades K-12.  NetSmartz can help you create a dynamic and engaging Internet safety curriculum.

PowerPoint Presentations

NetSmartz offers free, multimedia internet safety presentations tailored for specific audiences — parents and communities, teens, tweens, and younger children. Our innovative presentations make use of online resources, videos, and expert tips to educate, engage, and empower children and adults to be safer on and offline.​

The presentations below are categorized by age of the intended target audience. However, we strongly encourage presenters to review the PowerPoint presentations before deciding which one to use and to consult with the hosts of your presentation (e.g. administration and/or support staff if presenting at a school) to select the most appropriate presentation for your audience. Depending on your audience’s previous exposure to internet safety and related topics, you may need to deviate from the age guidelines given below to find the most relevant information and format. Contact us at [email protected] with questions or for assistance.

For useful tips and recommended strategies for planning and delivering child safety presentations, be sure to check out the free trainings available on NCMEC Connect!

K-12 Google Slides by Topic

Teaching Modern Safety with "Into the Cloud" Season 1 Grades K-2

Teaching Modern Safety with "Into the Cloud" Season 1 Grades 3-5

Teaching Modern Safety with "Into the Cloud" Season 2 Grades 3-5

Be Safer Online with NetSmartz: Grades K-2 (PC/Mac)

Being a Good Digital Citizen: Grades 3-5 (PC/Mac)

Written for tweens, teens, parents, educators, and law enforcement, these tip sheets offer guidance on navigating digital safety.​

Sextortion: What Parents Should Know

Being a Trusted Adult

Gaming Safely

Internet Safety at Home

So You Need Some Help...

Who is a "Trusted Adult"?

"Your Photo Fate" Video Discussion Guide

Cyberbullying Unplugged

How Do You Use Your NetSmartz? Tips for Teens

Parents' Guide to Smartphone Safety

Protecting Your Kids Online 2.0

Social Media Safety for Teens

Talking to Teens About Sexting

Think Before You Send

Your NetSmartz: Tips for Tweens

You Sent a Sext, Now What?

Classroom activities.

Additional material for the classroom, tailored for project-based learning and children with special needs.

Film Discussion Guide: What is Sextortion?

Film Discussion Guide: The Story of S.M.

Film Discussion Guide: The Story of H.M.

Peer Education & Mentoring Kit

Safety Pledges Using SymbolStix

Safety Stories

E-book: Delivery for Webster

E-book: The Princess's Password

E-book: Webster's Gecko Goof

Free online, on-demand trainings related to prevention education are available via NCMEC's online training portal, NCMEC Connect. View webinars, recorded live sessions, resources and best practices covering online exploitation, tips for teaching online safety, parent/guardian specific topics, and more! 

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Social Media Syllabus

Fun and interactive social media influencers class activity.

Table of Contents

Why Teach Students About Social Media Influencers

Last year I got the opportunity to present at the Accepted Student Day event at Shepherd University. This event offers students who have been accepted to the university an opportunity to visit our campus and get to know us better. As part of that, faculty give presentations on their area of expertise. Students and their parents attend the presentation that interest them.

My task was to inform the audience about some of the things we do in the communication department and give them a preview of what they can learn.  Naturally, I talked about professional communication and social media. Because the presentation needed to appeal to a wide audience, I presented on the broad steps anyone can use to build a brand on social media.

To get the students up and moving and to make the concepts come to life, I thought of an interesting and interactive activity that I’ll share below.

The purpose of the activity was to help someone who was not familiar to quickly become familiar with the concepts of 1) a digital influencer (aka, social media influencer) to see why influencers are an important part of any strategy, and 2) how information can spread via a social network based on ties.

Social Media Influencer Class Activity

Before the presentation, I had 4 pieces of paper. Each piece had the name of a different pop artist on it. I secretly gave them to 4 different people in the audience and told them not to tell anyone that they had them.

When it came time to talk about influencers, here’s what I did.

I had a slide with the photos of each of the pop artists I had chosen. Above their photos was the question: “Which artist is the best?”

On the next slide, I introduced the set up for the activity, which was:

4 people have been secretly chosen to be “superfans” for each of these pop artists.

The purpose of the activity is to see which pop artist will become the most popular in the room in 30 seconds.

Then, on the next slide I showed the rules:

First, I told the audience to think of their network as consisting of anyone in the room with the same color on their shirt (Note: As long as they had the same color on some part of their shirt, they were in their network and thus people could be in multiple networks).

I told them to think of their network in this activity in the same way they think of their friend network online.

Audience members could only talk to people in their network.

Then, I explained the instructions:

Talk to up to 8 people in the 30 seconds, once the timer started. The goal is to become a fan of as many artists as you can.

Here’s how: Go around the room and ask people ‘who makes the best music?’

If a superfan is asked, she tells the person who asked her and the asking people become a fan. Once fans are asked, they too tell others.

If someone is asked who is not a superfan or who has not yet become a fan, they say “I don’t know.”

Non-superfans could become fans of multiple artists. So, once they became a fan, they could continue to try and collect more artists to be fans of.

Then, I started the clock and mayhem began.

Students As Influencers Exercise: Help Students Understand Social Networks

What happened was, the more gregarious students who had been chosen as superfans were actively engaging with others in their network, spreading the information and becoming influencers. Also, networks that had more gregarious non-fans quickly became influencers, collecting artists to be fans of and spreading the information far in their quest to collect more artists. Thus, these non-fan opinion leaders tended to amass the most artists to be fans of.

Larger networks (shirt colors with more people wearing them) had an advantage, as well. This symbolized the idea that the superfan had a large online network.

Because the activity was only 30 seconds, the information stopped spreading. And, we were able to find out which was the most popular artist and trace it back to which superfan. We asked how many people became a fan by talking to that superfan. We also were able to see who collected the most artists. We then were able to ask these people who they talked to that made them a fan. We also looked at who never became a fan.

There was a good bit of diversity in terms of which artists became very popular and which did not, as well as who collected multiple artists and who did not.

The conversation could go on from there, and we could have discussed many concepts. But, this was just a quick activity as part of a larger presentation.

I told the students that, while this activity is a little simple and not a perfect illustration of the concepts, I asked them to think about why some artists spread a lot, and others did not.

Generally, now that the audience knew who the superfans were, the audience members would say things like: “The superfan for artist X was talking to a lot of people” or “the superfan was wearing the most common color, so she had the biggest network, that she could spread her info to.” Similar feedback came for those people who collected more artists by way of having multiple colors on their shirts (bridging social ties across networks) and/or who were more gregarious.

After the conversation, I reinforced some of the things we had discovered by bringing up a few concepts on the board. Also, I showed a simple network map to illustrate some of the things we saw.

Influencer Class Activity Conclusion

This was a fun, simple, and interactive way to quickly introduce new concepts to a medium-sized audience (there was about 45 people, if I recall). An activity like this could be used as an introduction to build upon more nuanced concepts, such as in an introductory course. In this case, the prospective students seemed to enjoy it and I bet it stuck with them. We had an interesting discussion, and the presentation overall went very well.

If you wanted to try this with a smaller audience, you could reduce the number of superfans and the amount of time they had.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. There are lots of ways that this activity could be tweaked and built upon. If you come up with any, please share them with readers.

Next Steps: Learn More About Social Media Influencers

Personal branding and teach social media book.

My book Teach Social Media: A Plan for Creating a Course Your Students Will Love provides activities for students to learn about identifying social media influencers using social media listening software and other tools. It also contains an assignment on personal branding.

More Blog Posts About Personal Branding and Social Media Influencers:

• Teaching Students to Create an Online Personal Branding Strategy: Personal Brand Exercise for Students
• A Quick, Interactive Activity for Introducing the Concept of Social Media Influencers

Recommended Reading about Professional Online Identities:

• Known: The handbook for building and unleashing your personal brand in the digital age . Read Ai Addison Zang’s review of Known.

– Cheers! Matt

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3 thoughts on “Fun and Interactive Social Media Influencers Class Activity”

Hey! I am thinking a fun activity for my biology classroom would be to select a few biology “influencers” ( maybe cartoony versions of: carbon the atom, DNA, a few proteins, etc) and kind of copy your idea here. I may make it an ongoing thing. Thanks for the idea!

Sounds fun! Please come back and share how it works out.

Loved the activity

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A Social Media Education Blog by Matthew J. Kushin, Ph.D.

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Social media

Students growing up in a digital age need to feel confident about making positive choices online, which will benefit their ongoing wellbeing. Schools and the classroom provide safe spaces for students to explore their ideas around social media, and to learn that there are both positive and negative aspects of using platforms. Ultimately, however, each individual needs to decide for themselves how to engage with the online world.

Social media platforms are developed and updated regularly; accordingly, the way students engage with each platform will also evolve. These platforms differ in functionality which can include sharing messages, ideas, photos, stories and other content. Some platforms were popular for only a short time (e.g. Kik, Yik Yak, Vines, Myspace), while others have evolved with the audience to become part of everyday life (e.g. Facebook , Instagram , Twitter ).

It's important that teachers and parents stay up to date with each platform's functionality and terms of service, so they can have informed, engaging and factually accurate conversations with young people. The eSafety Commissioner provides updates on popular social media platforms through the eSafety Guide .

Regardless of the platform, it is imperative that we teach students respectful behaviours, responsible use of technology and the importance of resilience and reasoning.

By teaching students about concepts such as boundary setting, privacy, trolling, cyberbullying and overuse, they’ll feel confident to make these choices. Helping students to see how social media can be used to promote positive upstander behaviour and to do good for others in our society will support them to make positive online choices. By using these classroom resources and Wellbeing Fives, students will be confident as they navigate the ever-changing social media world.

Classroom resources

Designed to be engaging and relevant to your students.

What is social media?

Students learn about social media platforms and the importance of thinking about their terms of service.

Social media and personal wellbeing

Students examine a scenario to identify activities on social media that could impact on their wellbeing. Students identify strategies they could use to improve their wellbeing.

Positive uses of social media

Students analyse positive social media trends and outline how they could use social media to create social change.

Trolling and cyberbullying

Students learn to recognise trolling and cyberbullying and develop strategies to deal with it.

Wellbeing Fives

Energise, refocus and develop wellbeing in your students in 5 minutes.

Boundary setting on social media

Students explore, understand and set their personal boundaries on social media.

Online communities

Students investigate the sense of belonging developed through connections made in different online communities.

Privacy on social media

Students learn about the complexity of privacy on social media.

Social media is like a tug of war

By applying the metaphor of a tug of war, students engage in discussions of different points of view on social media.

Taming social media use

Students think of ways to manage their social media use.

The pros and cons of social media

Students evaluate social media using a Venn diagram.

Things to stop doing online

Students consider online behaviours that can have a negative impact on others.

Upstanders on social media

Students learn how to be an upstander in an online environment.

Resources for parents and carers

Share with parents and carers to support a whole school approach to student wellbeing.

Teenagers and social media

Learn about why teenagers love social media and the possible benefits and risks involved.

Help your teen manage their social media usage

Most parents are worried about their teenager’s use of social media. Here are some practical ways to help your teen develop good social media habits.

Peer pressure and social media

Hayley and her mum Lisa share how social media means peer pressure doesn’t stop when the school bell rings.

Self-esteem and social media

Find out why social media can impact a teenagers self-esteem and how you can support your teenager.

Resources for students

Engaging and reliable content for young people to support their wellbeing.

Mental wellbeing

There are a number of ways to look after yourself, from eating well to developing good habits. Check 'em out here and boost your mental fitness.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying can be especially horrible because it's often public, hard to take down and 'switching off' isn't as simple as it sounds.

Problem solving

Problem solving is a skill. Approaching a problem the right way may not guarantee the outcome you want, but you can feel good about making the best choice possible.

4 things everyone needs to stop doing online

Here's four things people do online that need to stop

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A Guidebook for Social Media in the Classroom

Is social media relevant take the quiz.

Before we talk social media, let's talk about the relevance of social media by taking a quiz. Which of the following is most likely to be true?

• ☐ Should we teach letter-writing in the classroom? Kids need to write letters and mail them. But what if they become pen pals with strangers and share private information with them? What if their letter gets lost in the mail and the wrong person opens it? Are we opening up a whole dangerous world to our students once they mail letters to others? Surely students will send thousands of letters through the mail in their lifetime.
• ☐ Should we teach email in the classroom? Kids need to email other people and should know how to title a subject. But what if they email someone bad? What if they accidentally send it to the wrong person? What will we do? And are we opening up a whole dangerous world to our students once they email others? Surely students will send thousands of emails in their lifetime.
• ☐ Should we teach (dare we say it) social media in the classroom? I mean, they don't have to learn microblogging on Twitter -- you can do that in Edmodo, right? You can have a private blog or put them on Kidblogs or Edublogs instead of letting them post long status updates on Facebook, right? Are we opening up a whole dangerous world to our students once they are writing online and posting comments to each other? Surely students will post thousands of status updates, pictures, and blogs in their lifetime.

The Social Media Answer

• ☑ There's one form of writing that can arguably get someone fired, hired or forced to retire faster than any other form of writing.  (If you don't believe me, read " How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life " in the New York Times .)
• ☑ There's one form that will most likely be read by college admissions offices and teams of student "stalkers" hired to vet students before they receive scholarships.
• ☑ There's one form that will prevent some people from running for political office and get others elected.

One form of writing is that powerful.

If you guessed social media, you're right.

The Social Media Myth

The myth about social media in the classroom is that if you use it, kids will be Tweeting, Facebooking and Snapchatting while you're trying to teach. We still have to focus on the task at hand. Don't mistake social media for socializing . They're different -- just as kids talking as they work in groups or talking while hanging out are different.

You don't even have to bring the most popular social media sites into your classroom. You can use Fakebook or FakeTweet as students work on this form of conversation. Edublogs , Kidblog , Edmodo , and more will let you use social media competencies and writing techniques. Some teachers are even doing "tweets" on post-it notes as exit tickets. You can use mainstream social media, too.

12 Ways Teachers are Using Social Media in the Classroom Right Now

• Tweet or post status updates as a class. Teacher Karen Lirenman lets students propose nuggets of learning that are posted for parents to read.
• Write blog posts about what students are learning. Teacher Kevin Jarrett blogs reflections about his Elementary STEM lab for parents to read each week.
• Let your students write for the world. Linda Yollis' students reflect about learning and classroom happenings.
• Connect to other classrooms through social media. Joli Barker is fearlessly connecting her classroom through a variety of media.
• Use Facebook to get feedback for your students' online science fair projects. Teacher Jamie Ewing is doing this now, as he shared recently .
• Use YouTube for your students to host a show or a podcast. Don Wettrick's students hosted the Focus Show online and now share their work on a podcast.
• Create Twitter accounts for a special interest projects. My student Morgan spent two years testing and researching the best apps for kids with autism (with the help of three "recruits"), and her work just won her an NCWIT Award for the State of Georgia.
• Ask questions to engage your students in authentic learning. Tom Barrett did this when his class studied probability by asking about the weather in various locations.
• Communicate with other classrooms. The Global Read Aloud, Global Classroom Project and Physics of the Future are three examples of how teachers use social media to connect their students as they collaborate and communicate.
• Create projects with other teachers. (Full disclosure: I co-created Physics of the Future with Aaron Maurer, a fellow educator I first met on Twitter.)
• Share your learning with the world. My students are creating an Encyclopedia of Learning Games with Dr. Lee Graham's grad students at the University of Alaska Southeast. The educators are testing the games, and the students are testing them, too.
• Further a cause that you care about. Mrs. Stadler's classes are working to save the rhinos in South Africa, and Angela Maiers has thousands of kids choosing to matter .

It's in the Standards

If you're going to ignore social media in the classroom, then throw out the ISTE Standards for Students and stop pretending that you're 21st century. Stop pretending that you're helping low-income children overcome the digital divide if you aren't going to teach them how to communicate online.

Social media is here. It's just another resource and doesn't have to be a distraction from learning objectives. Social media is another tool that you can use to make your classroom more engaging, relevant and culturally diverse.

Student Presentations

Read testimonials from organizations who have worked with us here!

Keynotes, assemblies, and other presentations for elementary (lower), middle, and high (upper) school students on safe and responsible social media use, gaming, and related online interactions.

High School Assembly

Our high school assembly seeks to give students the information and tools to use technology safely, responsibly, and appropriately.

Student Leader Program

It’s important to empower student leaders at school to set the tone of appropriate offline and online behaviors for a ll. Here’s how.

Middle School Assembly

This assembly for middle school students covers cyberbullying as well as the safe and responsible use of social media apps and websites.

Upper Elementary Assembly

This presentation is designed for upper elementary students (in grades 3-5) who need a general introduction to the safe and responsible use of technology.

Lower Elementary Assembly

This presentation is designed for lower elementary students (in grades K-2) whose emerging technology use must be encouraged with wisdom and direction.

Student Athletes and Social Media

Specifically for student athletes, we cover the importance of digital reputations and provide numerous strategies for how they can represent themselves positively online.

School Programs

We can help keep your students safe on social media.

Most of your students are on social media, with many now online for up to 9 hours a day. During all this unsupervised social media use, your students are exposed to threats and dangers they are not prepared to confront – including:

• Cyberbullying
• Social Media Addiction
• Sexual Harassment
• Hate Speech
• Human Trafficking
• Suicide/Depression
• Body Dysmorphia
• Substance Abuse

Student Presentations

We offer social media safety presentations for students from 5th through 12th grades.

Our presentations educate on, in an age-appropriate way, the most serious social media-related dangers and how to prevent and/or most safely respond to them, including:

• Preventing cyberbullying
• Fighting back against social media addiction
• Understanding social media-motivated violence and how to help stop it
• Safely reacting to and helping reduce hate speech on social media

Parent Presentations

We offer an hour-and-a-half-long social media safety presentation for your students’ parents and guardians.

Our parent presentation covers the following:

• An overview of the major social media-related dangers
• Tips for setting social media rules and guidelines in the home
• Recommended settings for computer and phone operating systems and apps
• An explanation of the conversations parents should be having with their children regarding social media

Social Media Safety Consulting

We consult with school administrators and parent associations to develop and enhance in-school and out-of-school social media safety policies and guidelines.

Our consultations cover social media safety concerns such as:

• Age of entry onto social media platforms
• Response protocols for cyberbullying, sexting, and harassment
• Best practices for protecting privacy
• Methods to prevent social media addiction or overuse

We Keep Students Safer on Social Media

Just ask the principals, parents, and students who have worked with us.

“Our students have never been so attentive and engaged in a guest speaker since I have been principal over the last 4 years.” Jarret Gold, Principal of La Canada Middle School

“The assemblies were extremely powerful and the parents that went to the parent info meeting were raving about it.” Jennifer White, Coordinator for Porter Ranch Community School

“I could tell that our students and staff were connecting with Ed’s story because room was silent. I have never seen our students so capitvated by any presentation. This shows me that the message is getting through. I appreciate Ed’s confidence and ability to speak with students in a respectful way.” Administrator, Hillsdale Middle School

“I left today more inspired than ever to be a school counselor, largely in part to your presentation and the hope that I have to make a real and lasting impact in the lives of students and families that I serve.” Megan Robledo, School Counselor at Cucamonga Middle School

Ed Peisner’s ability to turn a heart-wrenching experience as a parent into a fact-filled, constructive presentation that speaks to students right on their level is a gift to educators. In their parent presentation, Ed and Marc deliver palpable hope and action items for adults looking for ways to understand and support their children. Gregory Keer, Dean of Students, de Toledo High School

Student Social Media Safety Presentation (includes availability for an entire school day)

Parent Social Media Safety Presentation (1.5 hours)

Consulting service

Parent and Student Social Media Safety Presentation Package

Full Package (includes student and parent presentations and consulting service)

High-Risk/Low-Resource School Program

If you have been identified by law or by a government agency as a “low-resource” school, we might be able to offer you a full or partial discount. Please contact us for more information.

Protect Your Students

Learn more about how we can help keep your students safe on social media.

Social Media Safety Speaker for Middle Schools

A dynamic social media safety speaker for middle schools.

Social Media is the new frontier of technology.  The issue is that middle school students are posting material through these new social media channels without thinking.  When this happens, they could get in trouble, hurt themselves or others, or potentially put themselves in danger.  Bring in a social media safety speaker for middle schools is a great way to create awareness and help students post responsibly.

As a professional social media dangers and cyber safety speaker for middle schools, for over a decade Robert Hackenson Jr. has engaged and educated middle school students.  In his presentation he masterfully delivers the important lessons on how to use social media responsibly in a very memorable fashion.

This Presentation Covers:

• Technology Addiction
• Social Media Anxiety
• Cyber bullying & hateful posting
• Posting too much information
• Meeting strangers online
• Your digital profile & whose looking (colleges, employers, etc.)
• Illusion of security & privacy on social media
• Sexting (for age appropriate grades)
• 3 Simple Rules to Follow Before Your Hit Send

A Fresh Approach to Engage & Educate Your Students’

As an “edutainer,” Robert Hackenson Jr. believes that it’s not just what you say, but how the important messages are delivered.  When students are bored, the important messages are lost.  In order to capture the low attention span of middle school students, Robert developed a dynamic presentation that will keep your students engaged while delivering the important messages.  Some of the unique techniques his presentation uses:

• Other visual effects

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Helpful Resources

Police say Hastings Middle School student behind social media threat, investigation underway

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Hastings Police are investigating a threat of a school shooting posted by a Hastings Middle School student on social media, which caused widespread alarm among students and parents.

The Hastings Police Department (HPD) was alerted early Friday to a TikTok post stating, “HMS SCHOOL SHOOTING. YOU ARE IN TERRIBLE DANGER. 09-13-24.” The post also included an image of the Hastings Middle School building.

Police said the post quickly circulated among students, parents, and community members via social media and text messages, prompting fear and anxiety within the school system.

An immediate investigation revealed the post was created by a student at Hastings Middle School. Although TikTok removed the post due to its content, it had already spread throughout the public school system, leading to heightened concerns.

Hastings Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Schneider issued a statement to families, thanking the police for their swift response.

“We are thankful for the partnership we have with the HPD, they are a tremendous partner,” Schneider said. “At no time were students or staff members in danger, this was a social media post with the intent of causing an extreme disruption.”

Hastings Public Schools will handle disciplinary actions for the student, while the criminal investigation has been referred to the Adams County Attorney’s Office.

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STATEMENT

The incident comes one day after Hastings Police became aware of a nationwide and Nebraska social media scare regarding a possible school shooting.

On Thursday, the scare became more localized when Hastings Public Schools students began creating and sharing their own social media posts.

“Our agency narrowed down the student account holders of various posts and fully investigated these threats,” Hastings Police said in a statement.

Police said the students involved were addressed, along with their parents, and that Hastings Public Schools played a crucial role in the investigation.

The September 12 social media posts were fully investigated, and no credible threats to Hastings Public Schools were found, according to police.

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Copyright 2024 KSNB. All rights reserved.

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3 Hays CISD students charged for spreading school shooting threat on social media

HAYS COUNTY, Texas - Two more middle schooners from Hays CISD have been detained and charged for spreading violent threats against schools this week.

Hays CISD said, in total, this brings it up to three students to be charged in two separate social media threats.

"Law enforcement and district officials do not believe the Hays CISD students were responsible for or connected to the spate of social media threats that have been circulating in Texas and the rest of the country. However, they may have been influenced by them," Hays CISD said.

MORE STORIES:

• Hays CISD middle schooler detained for spreading school shooting threat on social media
• Social media school threats: 1 person placed in custody, 1 arrested
• Central Texas school districts deal with shooting threats on social media

School shooting threats in Central Texas

Llano ISD is the latest school district in Central Texas to report social media threats referencing school shootings. FOX 7 Austin's Jessica Rivera has the latest.

Simon Middle School threat

On Thursday, Sept. 12, a Hays CISD sixth grader was detained for spreading a school shooting threat on social media. This threat specifically named Simon Middle School.

The next day, the sheriff's office made another detention. A sixth grader from Wallace Middle School, who is friends with the sixth grader from Simon Middle School, was charged.

Now, both are charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a state jail felony for making a false alarm or report.

Authorities address threats against schools

Police arrested a Westlake High School student accused of making terroristic threats against those at the school. And, that is not the only threat being investigated in Central Texas this week.

McCormick Middle School threat

On Thursday, Snapchat directed a threat it detected that named McCormick Middle School to the FBI.

A sixth grader from McCormick Middle School was charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a third-degree felony of making a terroristic threat.

Hays CISD said the student did not have means to carry out his threat, but admitted that he made one.

"The district continues to appreciate the incredible skill and attention provided in these investigations by the Hays County Sheriff's Office, specifically the school resource officers (SROs) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID)," Hays CISD said.

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KYLE — The Hays County Sheriff’s Office has detained and charged two additional sixth grade students from Hays CISD for creating or contributing to social media threat scares in the district that have been occurring this week.

The latest juvenile detentions bring the total number of Hays CISD students charged to three in two separate, local social media threat incidents, according to a news release sent by the district. Law enforcement and district officials do not believe the Hays CISD students were responsible for or connected to the spate of social media threats that have been circulating in Texas and the rest of the country. However, they may have been influenced by them, the release stated.

On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office charged a sixth grade female student from Wallace Middle School with the juvenile court equivalent of a state jail felony for making a false alarm or report for circulating a threat that specifically named Simon Middle School.

Then, on Friday, Sept. 13, the sheriff’s office made a second detention in the case of a sixth grade female student from Simon Middle School who is friends with the student from Wallace Middle School. They are now both charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a state jail felony for making a false alarm or report.

Separate from the threat that circulated regarding Simon Middle School was a threat against McCormick Middle School.

On Thursday night, the social media company, Snapchat, directed a threat it detected on its platform that named McCormick Middle School to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to Hays CISD. The FBI then alerted the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, leading the sheriff’s office night shift patrol immediately acted on the matter, which resulted in the detention of a sixth grade male student from McCormick Middle School.

While the student did not have the means to carry out his threat, he admitted to law enforcement that he made it, the release stated. He said he was aware of the general threats circulating in Hays CISD earlier Thursday, but could not provide a reason why he chose to post a threat of his own, according to investigators. He is charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a third-degree felony of making a terroristic threat.

“The district continues to appreciate the incredible skill and attention provided in these investigations by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, specifically the school resource officers (SROs) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID),” stated the Hays CISD news release.

Report school threats or suspicious activity to iWatch Texas at www.hayscisd.net/iwatchtexas , or by calling 9-1-1.

haysfreepress.com 113 W. Center St. Kyle, Texas 78640 Phone: 512-268-7862 Email: [email protected]

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2 Heritage Middle School students arrested for posting school shooting threats on TikTok, Instagram: deputies

2 middle schoolers arrested over alleged shooting threats.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is fed up with students allegedly makin school shooting threats on social media. "Absolutely ridiculous," he said. And he called out parents, too. "If I can in anyway find out a parent knew what was going on and wasn't doin anything, your (expletive) is getting perp walked with them."

DELTONA, Fla. - Two Heritage Middle School students accused of posting threats of a school shooting on social media have been taken into custody, authorities said.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said both students, ages 13 and 14, were arrested on a felony charge of making written threats to kill.

Investigators said the pair shared threats on social media platforms, TikTok and Instagram, to commit a school shooting. 

"Students should be aware that all threats are taken seriously, and "anonymous" accounts can be traced, even if the post and/or account are deleted," the sheriff's office said in a statement on X. "Threats meant as "jokes" are no exception."

Volusia County Schools shared the following statement in light of the rise in school threats locally and across the state:

"Safety is the number one priority of Volusia County Schools and the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. The safety of your student, all students, and all school staff is a joint responsibility. Schools in Volusia County and around the state have experienced an increase in threats over the past week. VCS, VSO, and all of our local law enforcement partners thoroughly investigate every possible threat. Any students or individuals found responsible for making threats or spreading false information will face serious consequences. This includes disciplinary actions at the school level, such as suspension or expulsion, as well as potential legal action, including arrest. We need the continued support of our parents and community members to reinforce the seriousness of these offenses with your children. Thank you for your partnership."

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School and law enforcement officials ask for parent's help to stop threats on social media

Greenville County Schools and law enforcement officials have joined forces to ask parents to monitor their children’s electronic devices and social media after a rise in school violence threats.

On Tuesday, school district superintendent Burke Royster, Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis, and police chiefs from Fountain Inn, Greenville, Greer, Mauldin, Simpsonville, and Traveler's Rest urged parents, in an email, to pay attention to what their children see and share on social media.

Officials acknowledged a rise in misinformation and false threats of school violence since last week's mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. where four people died. A 14-year-old student and his father were arrested.

"We understand the tragedy in Winder, Georgia has created great concern among students, parents, educators and the community. After such a horrific incident, it is common to see an increase in reports of potential threats locally and across the nation," according to the statement. "The District and the Sheriff’s Office continue to work closely to fully investigate all reports and diligently follow established safety protocols. In order to effectively utilize school district and law enforcement resources, we ask parents closely monitor their children’s social media accounts to ensure that students report concerns directly to the school or to law enforcement and not repost them on social media or share with classmates."

More: Greer Middle School student arrested after being accused of making threats during class

The school district and law enforcement officials said many of the threats were being repeatedly shared on social media and edited to replace the school's name. "When students or adults repost messages on social media and don’t report through the appropriate channels, it perpetuates fear and creates additional safety issues," according to the email.

In the Upstate, at least two students have been arrested and charged accused of threatening violence including a 13-year-old at Greer Middle School and a 14-year-old who threatened Walhalla High School.

Pickens County and Anderson County schools also have received threats but they were deemed rumors and not credible.

The officials called the district’s See Something, Say Something protocol "the single most effective preventative tool regarding school safety" and all district students have access to it. "If your child sees or hears something that is concerning, they should say something to an adult or report it online using the See Something, Say Something icon on their Chromebook."

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Keeping Your Students (and Yourself) Safe on Social Media: A Checklist

Topics:   Classroom Management Privacy & Security Digital Citizenship

Learn how to keep personal information confidential on social media.

Social media is an increasingly important part of students' lives. In fact, the average teen spends nearly an hour and a half a day using social media . Unfortunately, the same study reveals that tweens and teens spend on average just 7 to 12 minutes per day on creative activities. To be true digital citizens, our students need teachers who model prosocial, creative, and responsible social media use.

So why are only 1 in 10 teachers using social media professionally ? It can be a scary and confusing prospect when you're working in a school environment, from FERPA compliance issues to headline-making incidents. It's no wonder many teachers avoid it entirely. In fact, 81% of teachers express concerns about the possible pitfalls that arise from mixing professional work with social media.

While social media can pose risks to privacy, these risks can be managed with informed, intentional use. There's also a huge upside: Many teachers have used social media successfully to share best practices, provide an authentic audience for student work, cultivate digital citizenship among their students, and build more connected school communities.

So, if you're looking to take the plunge—or already have—review this non-exhaustive list of best practices for protecting privacy and setting a responsible example of safe sharing in your classroom.

To be true digital citizens, our students need teachers who model prosocial, creative, and responsible social media use.

Start Here: Three Questions to Ask Whenever You Share on Social Media 

Before you dig into the extensive checklist below, some of which can feel a little overwhelming or aspirational, I want to offer you something you can start doing now . Here are three questions you should ask before you post anything from your classroom or school on social media:

• Is there anything in this post that personally identifies me or my students?
• Do I have explicit permission to post it?
• Is what I'm posting furthering the learning of my students or other learners? 

Taking time to pause, think, and consider these questions will get you a long way.

Now on to the full list!

Establish and Apply Transparent, FERPA-Compliant Policies

Locate and review your school or district's social media guidelines. Basically, everything you might do hinges on the existing policies that have been set up where you work, so check those out first. You should also look into your school or district's acceptable-use policy.

If guidelines don't exist, work with your administrators and tech specialists to set them up. You might discover your school or district doesn't have guidance available, or existing guidance is outdated or not readily available. If that's the case, let your administrators and tech leads know. 

Share and discuss your social media guidelines with students. Let students know the what , when , and how of social media in your classroom, and facilitate a discussion about the why —both the benefits of social media use and its risks. Get students' feedback, and encourage them to talk with you privately if they have sensitive concerns about their pictures or personal info making it out into the world. It goes without saying, but respect each student's wishes.

Use family consent/opt-out forms. If you're planning on sharing activities happening in your classroom, get consent from parents or caregivers. You might also advocate to have your school offer detailed opt-out forms for parents and caregivers.

Make a list of students whose parents and caregivers haven't given consent—and keep it private. Maintain and reference a private, secure list of students who've been opted out. Make sure to include the different types of things covered in your opt-out form.

Tune Up and Protect Devices and Accounts

 Strongly c onsider maintaining separate accounts for personal and professional use. This might be a rule already spelled out by your school or district. If not, it's something to seriously consider.

 Regularly a udit the privacy settings on all of your social media accounts. Social media platforms each come with their own risks to personal info and data. You'll want to do a deep dive into the privacy settings of each. Since these settings also change, you'll want to check back on them regularly. To get started, turn off all location-sharing data. You might also want to  set your personal Twitter account to "Protected"  so only those who follow you can access your tweets. Also look closely at  Facebook's extensive privacy controls . Note, however, that Facebook's "privacy" settings are really about visibility  of your information to other users . Facebook, as well as other social media platforms, can still see everything. And in some cases, third-party apps you connect to through social media can get special access as well.

Consider regularly archiving or deleting social media content. Teachers need to be mindful of their digital footprints too! You might want to set up a schedule for either archiving or deleting content you've posted on social media. You can prune your content and just keep the best stuff, or remove it all entirely and start fresh. If you're the sentimental type and can't bring yourself to fully delete stuff, social media platforms will often let you unpublish or archive content. Purging content regularly helps reduce your footprint and also makes sure that stuff you post involving your students isn't hanging around forever. Take note that there are third-party services that help you delete batches of content, but be mindful of the privacy and security of these tools. When in doubt, do it yourself.

Turn off geo, GPS, or location tagging for photos on your mobile devices. Also, audit which apps access your location. Mobile devices and apps notoriously grab and use your location in any way they can. This includes embedding location data in photos you take and tracking where your device is at any given time. It's best to turn off geo, GPS, or location tags on your photos. After you've done that, take some time to dig into the location permissions or settings on your mobile device. Look at how your device uses your location, as well as what apps use your location and when. Restrict these permissions as needed.

Revise your bio and profile on your social media accounts. Check in on the private and public biographical and profile information that's shared on each of your accounts. Make sure to remove any details that could pinpoint your location, school, or personal identity, as necessary.

Learn about the social media platforms your students use, even if you don't use them at school. If you're teaching digital citizenship, it's important to stay up to date with the social media your students use. This doesn't mean you have to use them yourself, but try to know the basics. This helps you understand the challenges your students are facing and host more relevant discussions.

 Get photo-editing tools on your devices to easily edit out sensitive information. Your phone, tablet, or computer likely has built-in photo-editing tools for cropping photos or blurring parts of the image. These tools can be useful when you're using social media in your classroom, because they help remove sensitive info before you post. There are also a ton of dedicated apps you can use, many of them free, to do on-the-fly edits.

  Walk around your classroom and look for any visible student or class information. If you're a classroom teacher, you probably have a lot of stuff on the walls and whiteboards of your room. Some of this might contain sensitive info, from logins and passwords to student names, class codes for apps, and grades. Take inventory of everything in your room and either remove these postings or make sure to keep them out of any media you record.

 Regularly review the sharing settings for your digital files and folders. Take a look at how you're organizing students' digital records on your computer. Make sure info isn't being shared with anyone who isn't meant to see it and/or legally authorized to access it.

Create a digital file naming convention that doesn't use first or last names. Remember: It's not just what's inside the picture or artifact you share, but how that file is titled that could disclose students' info (for example, "JasminePhillips_01.jpg"). That's why it's best to figure out a system for naming files that doesn't use students' names.

Ignore comments and direct/private messages asking for personal information on social media platforms, even from someone you know. Scams, schemes, and spam seem to be everywhere on social media, as well as in our emails, text messages, and voicemails. If you receive an unsolicited request for personal info—even if it's from someone you think you know—it's best to just ignore the request. If the request came from someone you think you know, follow up with them later. Ideally, use a different method than they used to contact you (for example, don't respond in the same social platform or text/email chain). Best of all: Talk to them in person.

Before You Post: Things to Look Out For

Avoid instantly sharing any picture or video you take. Take some time to look closely at what you've recorded, ideally on a bigger screen than a phone, or at least by zooming in and looking closely at everything that's visible. You'll be surprised at what you catch (for example, student names on worksheets, classroom passwords on Post-its, and profile information on a computer monitor). To help, here's some things to look for:

The faces and names of students whose parents haven't given explicit consent for sharing. Unless you've made some arrangement with students and parents or caregivers, always make sure that students' faces and names are obscured. Watch out for reflections.

Addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers. While you might have consent to share students' faces or names, never share other personal info that can be used to locate a student or steal their identity.

Posts that involve your students in ads, product promotion, or marketing. Social media can be a great way to offer feedback to developers of educational products, but consider how posts about products that include your students can make them nonconsensual spokespeople.

Names on desks, jerseys, and name tags.  It's easy to overlook these disclosures of personal info.

School and district names on t-shirts, posters, and buses. If you want to keep your location private, look out for school and district logos and names in your environment and in your photos.

Grades, assessments, or any part of a student's educational record. This is a core part of FERPA and casts a wide net. So, when in doubt about something that might count, don't share. Pay particular attention to how you reply to publicly posted student work.

Student handwriting. A lot of what FERPA considers personally identifiable is pretty common-sense (names, addresses, student ID numbers), but you should also know that FERPA protects biometric data as well, including handwriting.

 Local points of interest . It's pretty easy for internet sleuths to figure out where you are if you include any distinctive buildings, signs, monuments, or landscape features. Try to obscure these things or frame photos in a way that looks generic.

Practice in a Safe, Classroom-Only Space

 Consider using a classroom-only technology, such as a learning management system or messaging app, to share safely and practice digital citizenship. To give you and your students practice with sharing work, participating in conversations, and connecting with an audience, you might want to try out a tool you're already using, such as an LMS, that allows for media-rich, private sharing and commenting just between students and teachers. Some also let families join in!

Get Families Involved

Ask students' family members to follow your best practices . Encourage families to follow your school's social media guidelines when they visit campus, or when they post or comment on school-related social media pages.

Share your guidelines and best practices with parents and caregivers. Host a family night focused on using social media and devices responsibly at school and home.

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Review or teach one of our lessons on privacy and security .

Take our one-hour interactive training course on protecting student privacy. In this interactive course, you'll learn how to assess the privacy and security of products commonly used in the classroom.

Further Reading

Explore NYC Schools' guidelines for social media use . Take particular note of how they tune guidelines to each audience, and focus on digital citizenship over fearmongering.

Learn a bit more about federal law and guidelines around student data privacy . Teachers might want to check out this FERPA 101 video in particular.

Tanner was Editorial Director, Learning Content at Common Sense Education where he led the editorial team responsible for edtech reviews and resources. Previously, he taught writing and media literacy for six years, and has a PhD from the University of California, Riverside. His research on video games and culture has been published in journals, books, and online, presented at conferences nationwide, and continues to be cited and taught in classes around the world. Prior to joining Common Sense Education, Tanner worked as a curriculum developer and researcher at GameDesk, helping to design and launch Educade.org and the PlayMaker School. While at GameDesk, he co-designed the United Colonies alternate reality game (ARG) with Mike Minadeo. This ARG is to date one of the most sophisticated to be implemented in a K-12 environment. Outside of education, Tanner has been a Technical Writer-Editor for the Department of Defense, a web designer, and co-editor and co-creator of a print literary journal.

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Superintendent, sheriff assure parents schools are safe as students stay home en masse

After five separate weapons arrests on campus, the district's safety team will be traveling to miami to get a first-hand look at how permanent metal detectors can work on a daily basis..

TUNE IN NOW: Addressing School Threats The Leon County Sheriff’s Office, along with Leon County Schools and other local officials, are addressing the rise in reports of potential school threats and emphasizing the severe consequences for those involved. #ALLinLEON Posted by Leon County Sheriff's Office on Friday, September 13, 2024

Over 1,000 students were absent at Rickards High School Wednesday and 25% of Leon High's student body didn't go to school Friday following a surge of non-credible social media threats earlier this week.

While Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna and Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil acknowledged the fear parents and students are feeling, they're tired of the "nonsense."

The school district and the sheriff's office held a joint press conference Friday to reassure parents of the safety of their students. Hanna implored kids to stop sharing screenshots and instead speak to a trusted adult.

"While we encourage you to report suspicious behavior, we also want to warn you, that if you are spreading false information to stoke up fear and anxiety in our schools and in our communities and with our students and with our parents, the consequences will be severe, and you will be dealt with as needed," Hanna said.

McNeil and Hanna reiterated that, just like with hurricanes, officials will immediately alert the public and parents when a situation is not safe.

"We hope you trust us," McNeil said. "If there was a threat that's real, you would have been told by us."

Hanna said absences will not be excused and the district will not be implementing a clear bookbag policy.

After the press conference, district spokesperson Chris Petley told the Democrat the district's safety team will be traveling to Broward County to get a first-hand look at how permanent metal detectors can work on a daily basis.

Historically, the logistics of scanning students on their way inside school has proven to be a challenge. But just a month into the school year, the district has already seen five arrests for weapons on campus; two included loaded guns.

A wave of threats in Florida and Georgia

The latest school to fall victim to the social media-stoked fear is Fairview Middle School, with its administration notifying the community Thursday night that it had alerted law enforcement and district officials to a post that parents had shared saying "shooting up fairview tmr." Rickards, Leon and Lincoln High school principals also sent notes to parents this week about a non-credible threat about a shooting at "lhs."

Leon High Principal Michael Bryan said many of the social media threats circulated around the state look like "exact replicas." In fact, Hanna said he had seen the supposed Leon and Lincoln High threat when it bounced around social media two years ago.

McNeil said threats on social media often can't be verified because there is no tracking it back to the main post.

But he said there can be "severe" consequences for those making or maliciously spreading threats. It could even mean jail time.

"If we find you, we're going to arrest you," McNeil told the Tallahassee Democrat. "We know the chain of posts and we have to keep tracking those back but most of the time we'll find that it really isn't something we can charge a person with if all they did was post it."

McNeil said the greatest strain these threats have posed is on the community, not on his deputies.

"Our deputies are there at the schools, they're engaged, and they know in fact that it's not a real threat, we've done the research on it," McNeil said. "The issue becomes how that information gets transferred back to the community and creates that angst in the community."

Jimmy Williams, the school district's chief of safety and security, said over 500 anonymous tips were reported in the district in the last week, many of them about the same posts circulating online.

"This is not a Leon County issue, this is a statewide and nationwide issue," Williams said.

On Wednesday, Wakulla County was also dealing with "unsubstantiated rumors circulating social media regarding possible threats to Wakulla County’s schools."

Schools throughout Georgia have also dealt with bomb threats and threatening posts in the wake of a school shooting near Atlanta that left four dead and nine injured.

After five weapons arrests in a month, sheriff says LCSO will be investigating parent involvement too

While the social media threats in Leon County have been deemed non-credible by LCS and LCSO, there have been an alarming number of actual arrests made on school campuses recently with the help of anonymous tips.

School officials and law enforcement have seized five weapons from school campuses within the first month of the new school year, the latest arrest was a 13-year-old boy at Griffin Middle School Thursday. He was found with a loaded 9 mm handgun and 11 small individual baggies of what looked like cocaine in his bookbag.

"If you bring a gun to school we're going to charge you with a felony crime, which means we're going to put you in prison," McNeil told the Tallahassee Democrat when asked about the Griffin arrest.

"We're not going to only go after the child if a kid brings a weapon on campus, we're going to investigate that and find out if the parent should have known, should have taken some actions and we're going to charge that person as well."

How to make an anonymous tip

• To make a tip online in Leon County, visit  https://tips.anonymousalerts.com/leoncountyschools/ , to fill out a form.
• To make a tip by phone call the district's 24-hour security office, which is a monitored on a recorded line at (850) 922-5437.
• Email tips to  [email protected]  and tips can be made on the district's anonymous alerts app.

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3 .