Making Smart Decisions on Social Media

As spring rolls around, talk in Toronto often turns to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team has recently endured a six-game losing skid, jeopardizing their playoff hopes. Goalie James Reimer minded the net for many of the losing efforts, and fans have begun venting their frustration on social media through an unlikely target: James Reimer’s wife, April.

 

Principal Hardy explained at our March 26 assembly that after losses to Montreal and New Jersey earlier this week, April Reimer has been bombarded with angry messages on Twitter. Some say she should divorce her husband; many encourage her to do far worse.

 

“Social media is wonderful in that it allows us to connect with each other,” Principal Hardy said. “However, some people use the anonymity social media provides to attack others, as they will never have to face the subject of those attacks.

 

“We’ve all had to deal with the negatives that sometimes accompany social media. April’s experience reinforces how hurtful these negatives can be. If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, think twice about posting it to Facebook or Twitter or other social media sites.”

 

There’s another lesson in the Reimers’ experience: the importance of learning to deal with disappointment.

 

 “We’re never going to get everything we want,” Principal Hardy said. “Understanding and accepting that is part of growing up and an inevitable part of the human experience. We need to learn to cope with disappointment in ways that aren’t hurtful to others, and to put disappointing experiences behind us.”