In this fourth episode of our series “Taking a Broader View in Schools of Haute-Savoie,” we visited Cordon School in the Saint-Gervais-les-Bains valley to explore how CM1 and CM2 students (ages 9-11) perceive their image on social media…
“I cut out what I would like to display as my profile picture…”
Then, the students discuss each person’s choice…
The school’s ENT (Digital Workspace) will allow them to put theory into practice by creating a profile and a profile picture, which will be the focus of the next session.
This approach to social media allows the teacher to cover several topics, including cyberbullying, which already affects many middle school students. However, this could also concern the students of Lise’s class. In fact, in this class of CM1-CM2 students, 6 out of 21 already have a phone with WhatsApp. Some are not connected to the internet except at home, “so they’re still online,” the teacher jokingly adds…
Lise Galevielle tries to provide her students with a broad perspective on digital literacy, from lessons on the ENT platform to educating about Fake News, for example.
“We try to cover as many aspects of digital literacy as possible, but it’s not easy with our multi-level classes.”
“We offer some guidance; we plant little seeds and hope they’ll bear fruit, but parents need to be involved too because access to phones and the internet is something that needs to be taught!” she adds.
She also believes that the approach coming from school and the teacher holds more weight than if it were the parents doing it with their children.
“At least, that’s what we hope,” she concludes.
Revisit the first three episodes of our series:
“We’re having a session that will help children create their profile on the school’s ENT platform and learn about creating their social media profile in the near future. At their age, they’re not supposed to be on social media, but, in fact, a third of them already are!” says Lise Galevielle, a teacher for CE1, CM1, and CM2, and the principal of Cordon School.
Among her CM1 and CM2 students, who are 9-10 years old, one-third are already using TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat.
In this session, Lise introduces a table outlining the various elements requested by social media platforms (first name, last name, address, email, phone number, etc.), which the students must reflect on in small groups. They will then complete it individually, deciding what information they want to make public on their profiles.
“I try to raise awareness about what shouldn’t be shared in the profile; I educate the students but also the parents,” she emphasizes.
To do this, she provides a brief summary for parents to read at home because she has noticed that most parents don’t know what their children are doing on social media. “He’s busy, I know he’s on TikTok,” is the kind of response she receives when she asks parents what their children are doing on their phones.
The topic of photos to post is also covered. During the session, Lise has the students cut out the type of profile picture they would like to display on their social media—whether it’s a picture of their pet, their family, themselves in a swimsuit during vacation, etc.
Watch the first three episodes of our series: ludomag.com/en/tag/series-on-the-haute-savoie/
