Connecticut State Police held an interactive Social Media Awareness event open to all Newtown parents and guardians at Newtown Middle School’s auditorium on Tuesday, October 15. Trooper First Class James White led the presentation and covered the differences between various social media platforms, why social media can be addictive for all ages, how much information children are putting out there when they post, and more.

White encouraged everyone in the audience to interact with him throughout the presentation. Parents and guardians could pull out a device and answer questions, and they could also raise their hand at any point and directly ask White a question.

For White, the goal was to not just keep parents and guardians engaged through a conversational presentation, but also to create a thoughtful discussion about social media and to make them more aware of their relationship with it when they left the auditorium. He emphasized that there was not a “once-size fits all method” of changing how they and their children interact with it, and that they have the ability to lead and figure out what works best for them.

“The least we can do is to start to be aware of it and come up with solutions as family members. But also be aware that I’m not going to sit here and tell you that there’s one way that’s going to work. You’re gonna have to figure out what works for you and your family,” White said.

Earlier that day, White also held presentations for seventh graders and eighth graders separately, and spent “close to an hour” talking to them according to NMS Assistant Principal Brian Walsh. The following day, White did another presentation for students at Reed Intermediate School.

Walsh and NMS Principal Jim Ross were both extremely excited to have White there and touch base with students in a way that took them seriously, felt engaging, and was tailored to what their school community needs.

“White didn’t preach what the best practices are and say ‘this is what you should do,’ he just gave some examples of what he saw from the law enforcement side of what has worked with families,” Walsh said. “One of his main messages was to empower parents of their authority over social media with their kids ... to advocate for them to be an involved parent, even if they already think your child is set up for success.”

White highlighted the idea that the event was “not a training session, but a social media awareness session.” With the students, Walsh says that White tried to make them aware of things that they typically might not focus on with social media. Specifically, he wanted them to be more aware of what information they put out there and how other people might be able to access that without them knowing.

He also covered the potential addictiveness of social media, and how each person’s social media feed is uniquely tailored to them as they consume content. What people see as a 40-50 year-old parent or guardian, White said, will be vastly different compared to what their kids might see.

He adds that most people do not just post to one platform, but crosspost their content to multiple platforms. Even if parents limit how many social media services their child might use, they could watch videos on YouTube Shorts that could be very similar to what they might see on TikTok.

At the end of the event, three copies of the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt were raffled off to audience members who filled out a ticket when they entered the auditorium.

More Important Now Than Ever

The topic of social media is a very important one for Ross and Walsh. Ross says that each summer, he and Walsh sit down and try to plan events for the upcoming school year. When they were talking about who they wanted to have give a presentation for students and what the big focus would be, Walsh says that it was “pretty clear right away” that social media was a perfect topic.

“It’s a concern for everybody,” Walsh added.

NMS had implemented new policies on cell phone use several years ago. These policies were followed up at the start of this school year by rolling out consequences for students should they fail to follow the guidelines.

These parallel the new cell phone policies implemented throughout all of the Newtown Public Schools at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Middle school students, as well as elementary and intermediate students, are expected to have their cell phones off and in their lockers during the school day. At Newtown High School, students must have their phones on silent and placed in a phone holder during class, but can use them in study halls, free periods, and during lunch.

Ross says that one of the first things they talked about when updating cell phone policies is that, with or without research, “it’s very clear to see that when kids have their phones, they are not as engaged as they are without it.”

Over the years, Ross says that he has seen numerous students walk in the halls with their heads down and staring at their cell phone. Even in class, students might try to steal a glance at their cell phone and try to text and scroll on social media.

Walsh says that the school’s cell phone policies help to foster more of that face-to-face contact and interaction at school. Being aware of social media and its downsides, he says, is more important now than ever.

“It’s just a very interesting time because years ago, people kind of felt like there were some negative effects of some kids going through puberty with social media, but there wasn’t the hard data to support all of that, and now there is,” Walsh said. “And so as a community, we just have to make an informed decision, because now we have the data, and the connection between [mental health] and social media use is very clear.”

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.