A Utah teacher's Facebook post has been shared thousands of times after she asked her junior high students to fill in the blank when it comes to their parents and social media.
The teacher, who asked to keep the school in question anonymous, said she asked students in three 9th-grade classes to finish the sentence: "What my parents don't know about social media is...."
She said the responses from the 14 to 15 year olds were sickening, heartbreaking and depressing.
"I mean, 70 out of 85 kids admitted to a secret that they're keeping on social media, and I didn't feel comfortable staying quiet about that," Skipper Coates told Fox 13 of her decision to share the responses.
The responses she posted are shown in the photo gallery at the bottom of this post, and a sampling are reproduced below:
"...that I'm on it till like 2 a.m. every day."
"...that I have a secret rant account I talk about my mental health about. I also have internet friends."
"...I swear so much & talk s--- on everyone. I get nudes from boys I don't even know. I expose & make fun of everyone & I love catfishing. But there's lit things."
"There's a lot of cyber bullying, sexting, porn and people that don't care about you and try to make you feel like crap."
"That it keeps me connected to my extended family and my fake account lets me express my opinions & frustration. I'm often manipulated to think that if I stop talking to people they'll attempt suicide or something."
The teacher had this message for parents: "Parents of the world, WAKE. UP. Your kids are living in a world that you are not invited to be part of. And they know how to keep you out. Your teenager DOES NOT NEED a smart phone."
After the post was shared thousands of times, the teacher added this note: "As this post is going viral it is important to me that readers know how much I LOVE these teenage people. It is easy to be critical of the kids, of the parents, and of me. If you must comment, use this as an opportunity to show my students good digital citizenship. Be kind. Have compassion. In the coming days, I will be working closely with my school, community, and local therapists to learn more about how we can help."
