What Students Want Teachers—and Facebook—to Know About Digital Citizenship

In some hands, social media tools are blights on society, tools for bullies and misinformation campaigns. Sometimes, they’re a canvas for artists, sources to build community, paths by which people find a higher calling. Sanah Jivani has personally experienced both extremes of the spectrum. It was on Facebook where she found an account dedicated to guessing why Jivani—whose hair had fallen out by age 12 due to an autoimmune disease—wore a wig to school. That discovery, coupled with offline bullying, made her feel alone and ashamed. But it was also on Facebook where in 2011 Jivani, then in ninth grade, posted a video of her removing the wig. In the video, she said that she sees beauty in everyone, while acknowledging that others’ words about her appearance had hurt her. In the comments of her video, she saw people open up about their own experiences with bullies and self-harm. Jivani had jump started a career in self-care advocacy.