School Opening Challenges

                                       (photo: UNESCO)

Uno may baja himoon nan mga maestro/maestra? There are comments from the parents that they shall be given the salary of the teachers since they are expected to facilitate the learning of their children during these times where the virus is persisting. Probably some of them forgot that the well-being and learning of their children start from home.

"Parental responsibility" - with respect to their minor children shall refer to the rights and duties of the parents as defined in Article 220 of Executive Order No. 209, as amended, otherwise known as the "Family Code of the Philippines.

In Article 220: The parents and those exercising parental authority shall have with the respect to their unemancipated children on wards the following rights and duties:

(1) To keep them in their company, to support, educate and instruct them by right precept and good example, and to provide for their upbringing in keeping with their means; (2) To give them love and affection, advice and counsel, companionship and understanding; (3) To provide them with moral and spiritual guidance, inculcate in them honesty, integrity, self-discipline, self-reliance, industry and thrift, stimulate their interest in civic affairs, and inspire in them compliance with the duties of citizenship.

It has been a practice among Filipinos to “leave” their responsibilities to the teachers and Day Care workers. Corporal punishment was even encouraged by some parents to the teachers when the kids do nasty things.

Research clearly links the quality of children’s first years with their future physical, cognitive, communicative, social and emotional functioning. Interaction and rich experience are keys. But in developing countries, families are too often without resources to provide the environment and stimulation that their young children need. In the Philippines, center-based early childhood development services are scarce and of uneven quality (childfun.org).

With the onslaught of the alternative learning modality of the Department of Education, parents are expected to facilitate the learning of their children in their own capacities. The IATF prohibits the minors to go out and have face-to-face encounters with others that is why parental support is tantamount to the learning process during the pandemic.

Parental involvement is an essential factor in the development of the foundation in children’s education. In spite of this, many parents do not appear to be getting involved in their children’s education.

This lack of involvement may have a negative impact on student performance in and out of the classroom and ultimately affect their continuing educational development and success. Teachers need to play a major role in connecting to the larger school community.

The Learning Continuity Plan of the schools lists orientation of the parents on the alternative learning delivery modes for this school year. But with the varied profiles of the parents, an impending difficulty is at hand. There are those who will repel on the idea of being involved since for them, it will get along the way in finding for a living. Some of them will be out to work and how can their children expect support and guidance from those whose educational attainment are limited?

Wilichowski and Cobo (2020) said that averting the damage brought on by the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic requires an aggressive education policy response, which involves: 1) coping during the crisis to reduce learning loss while schools are closed, 2) managing continuity of learning to promote learning recovery as schools reopen safely, and 3) using the crisis as an opportunity to improve and accelerate, making education systems stronger and more equitable than they were before.

The DepEd must provide actionable guidance for teachers. This should point to ways teachers can become content curators, and provide   recommendations so that they do not overwhelm pupils with excessive lectures, lessons plans, and homework. In the U.S., Uganda, Brazil, France, and Ethiopia, this guidance includes easy-to-implement ideas so that teachers can adapt the content from remote learning plans for their needs.

There must also be strong policies to allow the parents to have commitment on the learning of the children with the help of the local governments in providing learning and development to capacitate the facilitating skills of the parents.

As education systems emerge from this crisis, it is clear that a new chapter is waiting to be written with detailed medium- and long-term actions (e.g., increasing investments in remote learning, adopting blended models when schools partially reopen, or creating remedial e-courses), which can help educational systems build back stronger and become more equitable.

We will also learn from the things along the way when the new school year opens come August 24. Still, it is firm that education MUST continue. We cannot afford to have a generation of morons if we will allow the pandemic to create a learning gap.

No Scapegoats Please

Umay kaha ila hibay-an? A collective fear dawned on both the educators and the parents as they realized that there will be no face-to-face classes to be conducted in the midst of the pandemic. It is going to be dangerous to all when people converge. Better, the schools will opt to choose blended learning which includes modules, worksheets, digital lessons and even TV and radio broadcasts. But then the question persists: What would be the quality of learning of these modalities?

Teacher and school heads’ competence count. If these educators pour out their best and utilize their knowledge, skills and positive attitude towards the situation at hand, there might be a silver lining on the thick clouds of doubt.

Competence according to dictionary.com is the quality of being competent; adequacy; possession of required skill, knowledge, right attitude, qualification, or capacity. That is the reason why these professionals underwent competency-based examination conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to measure whether they are competent enough to be licensed or not.

Competencies are the skills and knowledge that enable a teacher to be successful. To maximize student learning, teachers must have expertise in a wide-ranging array of competencies in an especially complex environment where hundreds of critical decisions are required each day (Jackson, 1990).

Effective teachers are able to explain difficult concepts clearly and concisely. They facilitate discussions, organize interactive sessions, and provide constructive feedback to their students.

The challenge during these difficult times is how to deliver the key learning to the students through their chosen modality. There are some teachers in the field who have the needed knowledge and skills but lack the empathy and needed attitudes to cater the diverse needs of the learners. There are those who feel that a one-size-fits-all scheme is effective since they do not have the patience to diversify. There are also lots of principals and supervisors who consider instructional supervision as burden to them where in fact this must be their main role in the education processes.

Then, there will be the practice of putting the blame on something: the virus, the students themselves, the department for not giving the measures, the system and many other things to find a way out. According to Brahm (2004), scapegoating is a psychological defense mechanism of denial through projecting responsibility and blame on others. It allows the perpetrator to eliminate negative feelings about him or her and provides a sense of gratification. Furthermore, it justifies the self-righteous discharge of aggression.

It can be observed that the Department of Education (DepEd) is exhausting all the resources to capacitate the teachers and educators in the field with webinars and online discussions on the alternative modalities which can reach out up to the marginalized learner. Yet, there are those who sit in their comfort zones and wait for manna from heaven. That is probably the reason why critiques on teachers being paid for doing nothing surfaced.

Alongside the governmental efforts in the delivery of service in education to the remotest areas shall include modalities apt for the indigenous culture, traditions, and more. They should achieve the national goals of maximizing the fullest potentials of learners through the utilization of possible materials, pedagogical strategies, and alternative modalities.  

The DepEd gave ample time to the schools to prepare for the new set of modalities. But there is also a culture a top-bottom mentality of many. The waiting can sometimes be excruciating since there are educators who are pro-active. They want to be prepared for the impending battle ahead. But then, there are also those who wait fro a messiah to save them from their distress.

Increasing environmental complexity and ambiguity require organizations to rely on their members' proactive behaviors to deal with potential chaotic occurrences surrounding the organizational functioning. Individuals respond these occurrences by displaying various proactive behavior forms to build predictability islands in ocean of uncertainty. In this context, principal proactivity is one of key determinants of effectiveness of schools functioning in complex and anarchic environments (Ankara, Balci, 2016).

Instead of remaining reactive, individuals’ performing proactive behaviors to deal with the opportunities and problems in internal and external environments of the school has become an important determinant of organizational effectiveness (Crant, 2000; Russell & Russell, 1992; Frese & Fay, 2001).

On the hands of educators lies the hope of nurturing something worth the while to the learners even in these trying times.

Leading the Schools Amidst the Virus

                                            (chronicle.com)

Unhon man pagklase kun di paskwelahon an mga bata? A buzz of confusion was aired among the parents and the teachers as the president and the IATF mandated that there would be no face-to-face classes to be given until the time that the pandemic will be gone with vaccine and the presence of medicine for COVID 19 is there. The confusion heightened as the new school year comes in.

The Department of Education released its official statement on May 5, 2020: As we continue to confront the issues brought about by the pandemic, we in the Department of Education (DepEd) are addressing challenges in the basic education through the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP), which will be in effect by the time School Year 2020-2021 opens on August 24, 2020.

The LCP is our major response and our commitment in ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our learners, teachers, and personnel in the time of COVID-19 while finding ways for education to continue amidst the crisis for the upcoming school year.

Putting it into perspective, we have delayed the opening of classes to ensure that our learners and teachers are given time and be properly equipped to adjust to this new learning environment. Our policies will also be continuously guided by science and by the advice of our health experts. Education can and must continue but only under the conditions and health protocols set by the DOH and the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is but human nature to be confused and covered with fear at the same time with the present scenario where the infected is escalating. Some are even distressed with the fact that their loved ones suddenly became mere statistical data on the death toll. Some parents are apprehensive in sending the children to school for safety and there are those who are thinking of not allowing their kids to be enrolled.

In an online press briefing led by Education Secretary Leonor Briones along with Undersecretaries Annalyn Sevilla and Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan, the DepEd key officials discussed concerns on school opening and the alternative learning modalities. Briones said that the DepEd is aware of the calls to suspend the opening of classes this coming August 24 due to the continued threat of COVID-19. “But what other options do we have? We have to go on because education must continue,” she added (Manila Bulletin, May 2020).

That is where the challenge is. Indeed, we cannot afford to stop the education process for we might produce a generation of young people who are short in competencies and life skills. Yet, how will the educators cope with the gargantuan task of preparing alternative delivery modalities and blended learning schemes which are of good quality? Achievement was even difficult to attain during the formal and face-to-face modality, and now this distance and virtual learning?

The challenge lies on the education leaders themselves. The aforementioned Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) acts as the roadmap to avoid a divide with the educational momentum geared by the different programs, activities and programs of the department. Managerial and leadership skills must be applied by the school heads to guide the teachers to come up with learning materials that can support a different pedagogical approach.

While schools work quickly to respond, thoughtful preparation is key – as evidence shows, programs that are implemented effectively improve student outcomes significantly more than those implemented with less fidelity (Durlak & DuPre, 2008). When helping teachers, students and parents to effectively implement home-supported learning one of the crucial elements is having a clear school plan that will assist in building a shared understanding for all involved (Evidence for Learning, 2020; Sharples et al., 2019).

In a crisis such as the one in which we are currently existing, perfection is the enemy of progress. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO, recently explained in regard to emergency response (Marco Derksen, 2020) that in an emergency we “need to act quickly … be the first mover.” “Speed trumps perfection,” he says, adding that, “everyone is afraid of the consequence of error, but the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralyzed by the fear of failure.” In a time of crisis, leaders must act swiftly and with foresight but also with careful consideration of options, consequences and side effects of actions taken. They must communicate with clarity and purpose but also with empathy and humanity.

There are those who are still confused on what to do. Some teachers are groping in the dark what and how to act with the preferred and carefully-studied modality. This is the time where the school leaders must put their best foot forward not just to comply with what is being asked.

The country relies on the young people who will be the future nation builders. We could not afford to allow them to sulk and under-utilize their capabilities to become gaming and entertainment-inclined sloths. We let them get the education they deserve.

Dread vs. Hope

                                        (img: unique mindcare)

Tag nerbyos na ko! With the lengthened stay of the virus, people started to grope for activities which can drive away boredom and anxiety. The information they see in the news and the escalating numbers of the infected seem to weaken their defense mechanism and resiliency. People have different stress limits that others are now succumbing to depression.

Anxiety, according to Psychology Today, encompasses feelings of worry, nervousness, or dread. Although unpleasant, occasional bouts of anxiety are natural and sometimes even productive: By signaling that something isn’t quite right, anxiety can help people both avoid danger and make important and meaningful changes.

For many people, the uncertainty surrounding corona virus is the hardest thing to handle. We don’t know how exactly we’ll be impacted or how bad things might get. And that makes it all too easy to make it a catastrophe and spiral out into overwhelming dread and panic.

Our momentum was suddenly intruded by the unknown. We suddenly stopped our normal routines and stayed at home. The psychological impact of it might be acceptable first since we need to follow what is the best so to be safe. Yet, the lingering threat of the illness especially when the “Balik Probinsiya” activity was done added to the dread lingering at the back of our minds.

Over information can sometimes be the cause of such anxiety. It’s vital to stay informed, particularly about what’s happening in your community, so you can follow advised safety precautions and do your part to slow the spread of corona virus. But there’s a lot of misinformation going around, as well as sensationalized coverage that only feeds into fear. It’s important to be discerning about what you read and watch (Smith, Robinson, 2020).

As the corona virus pandemic rapidly sweeps across the world, it is inducing a considerable degree of fear, worry and concern in the population at large and among certain groups in particular, such as older adults, care providers and people with underlying health conditions. These are pervasive in countries with infected individuals.

So how can we avoid being entrapped in the looming fear of such threat?

Understanding the risk to yourself and people you care about can make an outbreak less stressful. Learn and share the facts about COVID-19 and help stop the spread of rumors. When you share accurate information about COVID-19, you can help make people feel less stressed, make a connection with them, and help stop stigma (cdc.gov).

A broad body of research links social isolation and loneliness to poor mental health; and recent data shows that significantly higher shares of people who were sheltering in place (47%) reported negative mental health effects resulting from worry or stress related to corona virus than among those not sheltering in place (37%). Negative mental health effects due to social isolation may be particularly pronounced among older adults and households with adolescents, as these groups are already at risk for depression or suicidal tendencies.

Recent polling data shows that more than half of the people who lost income or employment reported negative mental health impacts from worry or stress over corona virus; and lower income people report higher rates of major negative mental health impacts compared to higher income people (Panchal et al, 2020).

We will cling to hope to lessen the stress level.

Psychologists have proposed lots of different vehicles over the years. Grit, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, optimism, passion, inspiration, etc,, they are all important. One vehicle, however, is particularly undervalued and underappreciated in psychology and society. That’s hope.

Hope is not a brand new concept in psychology. In 1991, the eminent positive psychologist Charles R. Snyder and his colleagues came up with Hope Theory. According to their theory, hope consists of agency and pathways.  The person who has hope has the will and determination that goals will be achieved, and a set of different strategies at their disposal to reach their goals. Put simply: hope involves the will to get there and different ways to get there (Kaufman, 2011).

We cannot help to have this dread of the unknown. But we have hope to cling to and that we can dwell on the positive side of knowing that ALL WILL BE WELL soon. Let us continue to see this life as an avenue of more beautiful experiences.

Family Business

                                          (photo: Rappler)

Lumon kibali ta? ABS-CBN is the brainchild of the Lopez brothers from the sugar-producing province of Iloilo. According to Rappler, the industrialist Eugenio "Eñing" Lopez Sr and his politician brother, former vice president Fernando Lopez, founded Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN) in 1956 primarily for radio broadcasting. They acquired and merged CBN with Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) in 1967.

The Lopezes control the publicly listed media behemoth through a 56.6% stake via Lopez Holdings Corporation, which in turn is owned 52% by privately held Lopez Incorporated. Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III, the son of Geny Lopez, turned over the reins of ABS-CBN to his cousin, 46-year-old Carlo Katigbak, who is now president and chief executive officer. Gabby remains chairman (Shnabel, 2017).

With these facts, we can directly see that it is a family business. We cannot be considered as a Kapamilya since we are not related to them by blood or affiliation. We are consumers of the products that they produce: news, entertainment and the like.

The purpose of public media is to provide programs and services that inform, educate, enlighten and enrich the public and help inform civil discourse essential to the society. This is the basic role of TV stations in the Philippines. But the most popular among Filipino viewers are the teleseryes, the entertainment side of the broadcast network.

Our easy ability to grasp perspectives other than our own is also what makes it so easy for us to enter into an imaginative situation such as a story. And we really do enter into stories. As developmental psychologist Paul Harris has pointed out, the imitative capacities of our minds enable us to almost completely occupy a fictional position, so that both our thoughts and feelings begin to be shaped more by the fiction than by our real-life situation. We feel that we are there, in the story, an experience that psychologist Melanie Green and her colleagues call "narrative transport."

This is the foundation why the ABS-CBN teleseryes are connected to the people. The writers have researched well what tickles the mind of the audience. With the popular stars they also invested upon though a lot of promotion, more people got hooked and advertisers queue to be included on the air times of these series. The viewers were hooked since most of them can “relate” to the characters.

With this status, the shows became good business.

The Philippine Star reported on May 5, 2020: the National Telecommunications Commission ordered the broadcast giant, ABS-CBN to “cease and desist” operations after Republic Act No. 7966, which granted the network a 25-year license to operate, expired last May 4, 2020.

Emotions erupted as the anchors of TV Patrol bid goodbye to the “kapamilya”. A lot posted their outbursts on social media and anger started to escalate. People wanted to find someone or something to blame. Big stars from the network started posting their anguish on different platforms. Some viewers were recorded smashing their TVs since for them, they are of no use.

Their narrative transport was cut; people who “can relate to the characters” went berserk. The millions gathered from advertisers is threatened. Big stars got afraid they won’t have their jobs to maintain their lifestyles. With this, they called-out for the “kapamilya” to support their woes.

Then, there is the alleged losing of jobs of 11,000 employees.

Basically, the problem started with a technical aspect. It’s true that the president was vocal enough with his dislike to the network since it failed to air his campaign ads which he paid in full. He felt that the network is biased. Some of the executives apologized for this but the president was consistent with his stand.

ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo L. Katigbak admitted during a Senate panel inquiry on the company’s compliance with its franchise that the media firm failed to air about P7 million in local ads ordered by then presidential candidate Duterte. Katigbak clarified that all of Duterte's national political ads in the 2016 elections were aired but some of his local ads worth P7 million could not be accommodated due to a first-come, first served policy (Merez, 2020).

Some political analysts considered this as the reason why the allies of the president in Congress delayed the hearing to grant a franchise for the station.

Whatever reason is there, the company must not allow the Filipino to feel responsible to the alleged 11,000 employees’ impending joblessness. Technical aspects must be looked upon by the legal team. In fact, Atty. Salvador Panelo mentioned that the president is not the enemy or the government itself. The rule of law is the one taking action.

And we as people must understand that if Liberty condensed milk will be phased out from the stores, we cannot blame Alaska for anything. The owner of the former must face the consequences and won’t allow the people to be involved in their technical battles. We are just consumers. We do not own the company. We are not members of their family.

Let us focus on nurturing our own families. Let ABS-CBN work out for their family business. The well-loved characters might return soon.

A Realistic Segue?

Magklase na kuno online? The Department of Education announced May 5, 2020 that the new school year will open in August 24 this year as the country continues to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Education Secretary Leonor Briones said school year 2020-2021 will formally open on August 24, either through physical or virtual classes.

The Philippine Star reported that DepEd is looking into implementing alternative delivery modes such as online learning that do not require face-to-face interactions among students and teachers.

Some of the divisions of the department are already conducting capacity building on virtual learning and how to use online media platforms to be used by teachers and learners when schools are going to open. These online platforms can be considered as ideal since the students and teachers can interact without the physical presence hence the social distancing scheme can be followed well.

By studying online, students choose their own learning environment that works best for their needs: be it the bedroom, the study, listening to the instructor’s lecture podcast as the learner runs on the treadmill. Taking an online course also means that the learner don’t have to commute to class, which means less time spent on the public utility transports and more study time sitting on the couch (Heap, 2017).

Online modes of study have been found to be equivalent to on-campus environments with respect to key outcomes such as student academic performance (Magagula and Ngwenya, 2004; McPhee and Söderström, 2012) and student satisfaction (Palmer, 2012).

This is the foundation of the so-called online platforms. The idea can be very ideal. But does idealism true to all?

Idealism is the metaphysical and epistemological doctrine that ideas or thoughts make up fundamental reality. Essentially it is any philosophy which argues that the only thing actually knowable is consciousness whereas we never can be sure that matter or anything in the outside world really exists thus the only the real things are mental entities not physical things which exist only in the sense that they are perceived.

In reality, internet connection and gadgets such as laptops, computers and mobile phones remain unreachable luxuries for many learners. “There are students without access to technology that’s why we’re preparing our printed instructional packets or self-learning kits,” DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said.

REALISM IS THE REFINEMENT OF OUR COMMON ACCEPTANCE OF THE WORLD AS BEING JUST WHAT IT APPEARS TO BE. Realism is interested in objects and facts. In general, realists believe in the independent existence of the experiential universe.

Being a realist, one can ask these questions: What will happen to the poor learners who do not have gadgets? If we consider the online platform as the sole learning avenue, will the internet signal of TELCOs become strong enough to accommodate the millions who will be using it? Free internet cards will be provided?

Rachel Tustin, PhD mentions that the digital divide refers to the inequality in access to technology that exists between communities due to regional and demographic differences, particularly socio-economic groups. One of our goals as teachers is to help bridge the digital divide so that students can acquire the technological skills they will need to be successful as adults. While some students are considered digital natives, having grown up immersed in technology, other students, for a variety of reasons, have not reached this level of technological skill.

In most cases, we may have students whose only exposure to technology is at school, and many students probably fall somewhere in between. The digital divide refers to the inequality in access to technology that exists between communities due to regional and demographic differences, particularly socio-economic groups.

That is the first reality that we need to face: how do we bridge the digital divide and how do we train both the teachers and learners to become at ease with digital learning?

Printed instructional packets or self-learning kits are the best things to prepare as the school year is going to be kicked-off on August. These things are viable in the sense that it won’t leave any learner behind.

The problem comes when the validity of these materials will also be questioned and fall to become another set of exercises in futility. Still, the need to be realistic must prevail especially that we are now going to segue to the so-called new normal.

Fear of Missing Out

Sika silib mo ton telepono! As of 2019, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 144 minutes per day, up from 142 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is the Philippines, with online users spending an average of three hours and 53 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just two hours and three minutes. This is reported by J. Clement on February of this year via Statista.

Relationships are created and destroyed on these sites. There are even instances that the social media portals are unhealthy to those whose personalities are not founded on mature psychological roots. Envy and self-pity sprout as these persons look at the posts and adventures of their virtual friends. At the back of their minds they are saying: Why can’t I have a similar life like theirs? Not realizing that the posts can be blown out of proportion or simply projected/induced by those who post them.

The fear of missing out (FOMO) refers to the feeling or perception that others are having more fun, living better lives, or experiencing better things than you are. It involves a deep sense of envy and affects self-esteem. It is often exacerbated by social media sites like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Scott (2020) mentions that social media has accelerated the FOMO phenomenon in several ways. It provides a situation in which you are comparing your regular life to the highlights of others' lives. Therefore, your sense of "normal" becomes skewed and you seem to be doing worse than your peers. You might see detailed photos of your friends enjoying fun times without you, which is something that people may not have been so readily aware of in past generations.

Social media creates a platform for bragging; it is where things, events, and even happiness itself seems to be in competition at times. People are comparing their best, picture-perfect experiences, which may lead you to wonder what you are lacking.

That is the reason why some persons whom you do not expect to do things out of the ordinary do outrageous posts “just for fun”. Actually, they fear that they are missing out if they do not go with the flow. Some of them have to do it to feel they are in step with the present reality. There is nothing wrong about it as long as they are still in control with themselves… that the real SELF is still intact. But it is another story when these things cause anxiety or stress. These situations if undetermined and uncontrolled can lead to depression.

Some adults are wondering why a lot of kids these days are easily depressed. One of the valid reasons is that they are constantly exposed to social media sites and that they are prone to wonder why their lives are not as fabulous as their friends’. Most of them feel that they are missing out.

FOMO can be experienced by people of all ages, several studies have found. One study in the Psychiatry Research journal found that the fear of missing out was linked to a greater smartphone and social media usage and that this link was not associated with age or gender.

As technology enables us to stay more connected than ever, the addiction continues to grow. In fact, a new survey conducted by MyLife.com revealed 56% of people are afraid of missing out on events, news and important status updates if they are away from social networks.

One of the things that we need to understand as well is that there is what we call as the SILENT OBSERVERS in these platforms. They seem to be inactive in these sites but they are more prone to opening them so not to miss out. They feign nonchalance but they are more active compared to those who post shout outs, TikToks and pictures on the sites. They are following the movements of their virtual friends in an “inactive way”.

There are few articles about the ‘Silent Observers’ on Facebook according to Borkar (2015). There is power of having these quiet followers who read every post, see every content without clicking ‘Like’, ‘Comment’ or ‘Share’ no matter how engaging they might find the content. They simply judge and weigh your worth through your posts.

These silent observers are also on the verge of leading towards the unhealthy feeling and having the fear of missing out. They are part of that percentage that spend a lot of time scrolling up and down looking for information or the latest posts for the sake of observing and sometimes finding flaws and missteps. Then, they would feel good since the mistakes presented by others can soothe their own egos. They will then be assured that they are better than those they see erring on social media.

This writer considers these sites as spaces. They are like papers to be written; photo albums to be pasted with pictures and even a blank canvass to be painted. The “likes” and “dislikes” are not that important aside from the affirmation from friends and relatives. There are around 300 journals with a myriad of contents kept in a drawer. Nobody reads them. The contents are made for self-consumption and not for others' scrutiny or jealousy. Most of them are outputs of the processes created out from multiple inputs gained.

Social media fosters CONNECTION. Other than that can be another psychological discourse. Positive inputs, processing and outputs can be made. A balance of CONSUMPTION and CREATION can be done here. Anxiety, depression and envy caused by the fear of missing out must be avoided. One can even disconnect themselves from these sites. It won't kill you!

In the end, our mental health is our sole responsibility.