Mecca Patterson-Guridy wants to learn, but for some subjects, she isn含羞草研究社檛 always comfortable asking her teachers. So she has been turning to TikTok.
Online, the 17-year-old high school junior in Philadelphia has found videos on social media platforms about protests over police shootings, civic engagement and Black and Latino history in the U.S. The accounts she checks regularly feature segments including 含羞草研究社淔ast Black History含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社淏lack Girl Magic Minute.含羞草研究社�
The videos, Mecca said, address 含羞草研究社渢hings that get overlooked in the classroom.含羞草研究社�
Scrutiny from conservatives around teaching about race, gender and sexuality has made many teachers reluctant to discuss issues that touch on cultural divides. To fill in gaps, some students are looking to social media, where online personalities, nonprofit organizations and teachers are experimenting with ways to connect with them outside the confines of school.
The platform has opened new opportunities for educators looking to expand students含羞草研究社� worldviews.
Isis Spann, for one, said she turned to developing digital content after officials in a South Carolina school system discouraged her from sharing stories about some civil rights movement figures with her kindergarten students during Black History Month. She also recalls being told by the principal含羞草研究社檚 office to remove earrings that said 含羞草研究社淪trong Black Queen含羞草研究社� because they were deemed inappropriate.
含羞草研究社淚t didn含羞草研究社檛 sit right with me. I couldn含羞草研究社檛 help but think that if I weren含羞草研究社檛 a Black teacher I would be having a different experience,含羞草研究社� she said.
Spann left the classroom and now runs a company, 含羞草研究社淔UNdamentals of Learning,含羞草研究社� which provides educational materials for use in-person and online. She said she is grateful to be able to share her ideas independently from the rules of any school or administrator.
含羞草研究社淭here is no gatekeeper of sorts for social media content,含羞草研究社� she said.
In the 含羞草研究社淏lack Girl Magic Minute含羞草研究社� videos, 19-year-old Taylor Cassidy, a host on Sirius XM含羞草研究社檚 TikTok Radio Channel, highlights the stories of women who have inspired her and shares news about Black culture.
Others who are finding audiences online for their takes on history and current events include Atlanta-based personality Lynae Bogues, who hosts a segment called 含羞草研究社淧arking Lot Pimpin含羞草研究社� on social and political topics in the Black community. Kahlil Greene, who in 2019 became the first Black student body president at Yale University, calls himself the 含羞草研究社淕en Z Historian含羞草研究社� on social media. He shares stories of Black history and culture.
TikTok has encouraged more educational content on its platform. In May 2020, when most American students were still learning remotely because of COVID-19, the company announced it was investing millions of dollars and teaming with experts, public figures and educational institutions to post more learning material under the hashtag .LearnOnTikTok.
Not everything posted online is educational, to say the least.
A key to help students sort reliable, educational material from everything else 含羞草研究社� including frivolity, misinformation and conspiracy theories 含羞草研究社� is teaching them digital literacy, experts say. They need to be able to identify sources and find corroborating information.
Parents and educators should take time to learn more about TikTok in particular to understand the platform and how to reach kids where they are, said Vanessa Dennen, a professor at Florida State University. TikTok alone has about 80 million users in the U.S., and they trend young.
含羞草研究社淟ook, the thing is kids are on TikTok because the parents and adults aren含羞草研究社檛,含羞草研究社� Dennen said.
The videos made by good-faith actors that do pique students含羞草研究社� interest can be as educational as anything else they come across in a library or a lecture 含羞草研究社� as long as they have the background knowledge to put them in context, Dennen said.
Meanwhile, new laws passed in more than a dozen states over the last two years have put a chill on classroom discussion of topics that touch on racism and sexism.
The debates have extended to what books kids are reading. The American Library Association, which keeps track of book bans in the U.S., documented 729 challenges targeting 1,597 titles in 2021 across library, school, and university materials. That含羞草研究社檚 the highest recorded number of challenges since tracking began in 2000.
Kennedy McCollum, 18, said she learned a lot about history from TikTok videos while growing up in Phoenix. She still turns regularly to social media for news, to learn more about social movements and develop her personal finance skills.
含羞草研究社淚n high school, teachers didn含羞草研究社檛 really talk about current problems that are happening, especially when it comes to police brutality. That含羞草研究社檚 not talked about at all,含羞草研究社� said McCollum, who now attends Hampton University, a historically Black institution in Virginia.
Before high school, Mecca Patterson-Guridy attended Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School, which emphasizes pride in students含羞草研究社� African heritage. As a student now at the Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts, where she has more white teachers, she said she senses not all are comfortable with questions related to race.
There have been discussions on Black history, she said, but they felt incomplete and based in Black trauma, so she went on social media to find more positive representations.
含羞草研究社淎 lot of times Black history, Latino history, Asian history, Indigenous history gets overlooked. Let含羞草研究社檚 talk about women含羞草研究社檚 rights, sex education and abortion as well,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淚 think we should talk more about the things that are directly impacting us.含羞草研究社�
By Cheyanne Mumphrey
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Like us on and follow us on .
