At the end of the weekly senate slide presentations, the distinctive slide appears reminding me to stay updated by following the various student union accounts on Instagram. As soon as class is dismissed, I rummage through my backpack for my phone and open Instagram instinctively. The screen is flooded with posts and announcements from various clubs and student union accounts. I find myself going through this process almost everyday before I check my inbox for emails. 

At Townsend Harris High School, the student union and clubs use social media as the primary form of communication with students regarding student announcements and updates. While the SU maintains a Google Classroom page and requires clubs to do so as well, social media is This has become a concern among the both of us because all THHS affiliated accounts currently contain more information about school events and alerts than the official school website. 

Relying on social media as a primary source for spreading information directly conflicts with the NYC public schools phone ban policy in the 2025-2026 school year. Devices are supposed to be kept inside the Velcro pouch during the school day, but if this is the case, then why are most student announcements from student run groups being posted on social media? This encourages students to check their social media throughout the school day, contradicting the message that phones should be put away while at school. Without their phones students may miss important updates during the school day. So, students may feel the need to check their phones which undermines the purpose of the phone ban policy. This reliance on social media makes a student question whether they should follow school rules or choose to stay informed. 

Unlike platforms such as Google Classroom or Gmail, social media platforms exist outside of the school-monitored domain. Within this domain, the risk of exposure to inappropriate content can be filtered out along with negative consequences of becoming immersed in social media platforms such as cyberbullying.

Additionally, the publicly shared information on Instagram is not only visible to students but also to other strangers online. This exposes students to attention from people outside of our school community and therefore risks security. 

For these security reasons, students and families may not wish to use social media despite the growing demand for students to join the platforms. As parent coordinator Jodie Lasoff explains from the perspective of concerned parents, “It creates tension in households because then their children need Instagram to stay up to date with school events because the tennis team only communicate in that way, which is not really fair, and that puts parents in this position of their child being angry because they could be missing out on important information.” Many of the THHS sports teams communicate through group chats on Instagram. However, if a team member doesn’t have Instagram, this can lead to them being left out of the conversation or feeling disconnected from the team. 

Relying on social media for club announcements, events, or news can exclude those who are not immersed in social media. By prioritizing the use of emails and Google Classroom to spread information, we can ensure that all students are able to receive important information efficiently. Students who are not able to access these platforms at home are at a disadvantage when staying informed. Communication from student run groups should be inclusive of all students regardless if they have access to social media.

Social media should be treated as an additional way of spreading information rather than the primary form of communication used by important student groups.  This approach ensures that every student has access to updates and announcements regardless if they have social media or not. Therefore, more information should be posted on the official THHS website so all students can access it when needed. 

While social media may come off as a convenient way to spread information to students, THHS student groups should prioritize utilizing the official school website to accommodate those who don’t have access to social media. Transitioning back to official platforms ensures that students do not need an app to be informed of what is happening at school.