Social media use by kids and teenagers has become increasingly scrutinized, as more people are blaming social media apps for not protecting minors from harm. The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families has passed a bill that would implement social media education into middle and high schools across the state of Missouri. The bill would also require school districts to give parents the tools to enforce this education in the home.
Noelle Gilzow is the Columbia Missouri National Education Association President, and she questions how much responsibility teachers should have in the task of social media education.
“I would think that they would want to consider exactly how much of social welfare and everything we are going to put on the backs of teachers,” Gilzow said.
In “Teen mental health in an online world: supporting young people around their use of social media, apps, gaming, texting and the rest” by Victoria Betton and James Woollard, they say it is beneficial for all adults to have at least some ways to support their children and students through navigating the online world.
They have developed a three-step framework encouraging adults to “Explore, Inquire, Ally,” in order to minimize the negative stigma or reaction to children’s social media use.
However, Gilzow does not agree with the Missouri legislature’s goal to require that educators teach their students about social media best practices.
“I don’t think that it’s our place as public school educators to be teaching morality and tech savviness with social media,” Gilzow said. “I feel that is for the parents to do at home.”
As of January 2026,11 states have already taken action to implement social media education into their curriculum, while 33 have put more emphasis on preventing phone use in classes.
