Saint Louis Sudbury School students, staff, and regular volunteers are encouraged to organize and create sign-up sheets for optional discussions they would like to have at school. We recently had an honest and engaging conversation about how people feel about social media bans and restrictions in Australia, some states in the U.S., and in the United Kingdom. Sudbury students shared some insightful observations! Here are highlights from our chat.

How do you use social media?
Sudbury students shared that they most often are on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. They regularly use social media to doomscroll, communicate with friends, and learn about educational topics. A couple of young people mentioned that they sometimes feel obligated to send reels in response to a friend sending a reel which increases the amount of time the spend on those platforms.

So, what’s up with the social media bans or restrictions in certain countries and U.S. states? Why do they exist or why are adults considering these bans?
Sudbury students are aware about the concerns of social media use. Some suggested that adults are worried about AI and AI chatbots which sometimes can be lumped together with social media use. They also mentioned that social media platforms can attract people who are feeling lonely and sometimes can make that feeling worse. Sudbury students mentioned that there is still fallout from the pandemic—a difficult time that reduced in-person social opportunities and important social-emotional development in kids. Young people came to rely on social media use to fill some sort of hole in their lives and this is still happening.

Is social media use energizing or can it feel draining?
Students said that social media is often numbing and it desensitizes you to the world. One Sudbury student commented, “Humans don’t need to rely on constant stimulation… it’s really easy to get that in a four-hour doomscroll,” and another said that an effect of social media use is that “we’re being trained to not care.”

What would you change about social media?
Sudbury students said that they would ban AI content, eliminate reels, remove colors and app icons on phones, remove short form videos, end TikTok, eliminate infinite scroll, remove reposting, put more words on screens instead of pictures, and more. In general, students said that having less fast content would reduce their social media consumption. One Sudbury student talked about the endless information on social media, “I don’t want to know so much.” Another said, “Social media is a drug, it’s hard to put it down, and it’s too convenient.”

What are some alternatives to social media that would appeal to you?
Sudbury students suggested that they would love to talk with friends in-person, meeting up with young people at libraries and local stores, having pen pals, texting people, and calling people.

How does this conversation about social media restrictions and bans around the world relate to Saint Louis Sudbury School and our school culture?
Sudbury students shared that being in-person and connecting with people at school is really important to them. They said that they like having access to social media at school and know that it is a responsibility. One student said that what she looks up on social media platforms sometimes offers inspiration for other things but, “I have to be conscious of what I’m looking for online to not get sidetracked.”

Exciting conversations like these are the norm at Saint Louis Sudbury School. Students are valued each and every day to share their ideas, initiate change, and support each other as we all learn together.

Sudbury’s students, staff, student-led Safety Committee, volunteers, and Board of Trustees plan to continue our ongoing conversations about our Tech Use Agreement, the role of technology at our school, and how to navigate a balance of self-chosen activities, autonomy within a community, safety, and nurturing a vibrant and engaged school culture.

How do you use social media? How is it a part of your life? How would you change it? Please let us know by emailing us at info@stlsudbury.org. We would love to hear from you!