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Counselors tell Wayne board social media plays a role in rising HIB and mental-health trends
Summary
School counselors presented data showing social media is implicated in about 18% of recent harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) incidents and outlined supports including school counselors, child study teams and community partnerships; the district will post the presentation online.
Counselors from elementary through high school told the Wayne Board of Education on April 3 that social media is increasingly linked to students’ emotional distress and to harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) that spills into the school day.
The district’s supervisor of health and wellness introduced counselors who presented trend charts and crisis-review data. A presenter summarized the data: "Roughly 18 percent — that's about 1 in 5 — of all HIB cases from the past 3 years would not have happened without social media," and noted that a subset of those cases required crisis intervention or law-enforcement collaboration because of inappropriate online images or videos.
Counselors described common mental-health concerns associated with social media, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and sleep disruption, and reviewed school and community supports: professional school counselors, child study teams with school psychologists and social workers, partnerships for wraparound services, and family-facing resources such as the Take It Down service for removing explicit material.
Presenters recommended policy review and a possible district goal to coordinate age-appropriate digital-safety education, cybersecurity awareness and consistent cell-phone expectations across schools. They also said the district offers targeted building-level initiatives — for example, therapy dogs, clubs, and conflict-resolution programs — and encouraged parents to consult the posted presentation and contact their child’s counselor for follow-up.
The board and presenters said the session will be posted on the district website and promoted through an upcoming “Gathering Spot” series of parent presentations aimed at elementary and middle-school families.
