| ABSTRACT Social media has become woven into the fabric of modern life. Educators are facing that reality as well. They are observing the nearly ubiquitous presence social media occupies in their students' lives and are faced with decisions about how the school should respond to this phenomenon. From the educational impact in the classroom to the social, ethical, and legal implications the use of social media raises, schools cannot simply avoid the issue. Christian school administrators possess a unique purpose of developing their students morally and spiritually as well as academically; this adds complexity in dealing with social media use in Christian schools. The response to the challenges brought about by social media is often found in establishing policies that address the issues raised by its use in schools. The research has shown that the majority of schools (75%) have created social media policies, and nearly all (97%), whether they currently have a social media policy or not, believe a policy is necessary. The data show that a majority (64%) of policies are supportive of social media use, about a third (29%) have a limited policy, and a minority (6%) have a restrictive policy. Most (89%) support or allow social media use in the classroom, while avoiding outright encouragement of such use in many cases. Social media policies are seen as an extension of their code of conduct and Christian worldview, and training students and teachers is seen as being important. Most schools (94%) have not encountered a major incident that drove them to create a social media policy, with the majority of schools (91%) creating a policy proactively or in response to a mixed situation with small promptings positive and/or negative. A chi-square test for independence revealed a number of associations between variables, as well as a confirmation of no association between others. The relationship between schools' demographics and the type of policy were analyzed in this process. This study presents what types of social media policies accredited PK-12 Christian schools have in place, and it further presents data which aids in understanding the organizational situations that led to the creation of these policies. |
