Riverview School, a boarding school located in E. Sandwich, MA, serves students (ages 12-22) with complex learning disabilities. We believe that we must expose our students to the real world with a thoughtful approach to their ability to process social media. Even though we have a sonic wall blocking sites such as Facebook and YouTube, teenagers being intuitive explorers, find a way to use apps that are popular and enable them to communicate instantly and creatively with each other. We believe that we as educators and guardians of their wellbeing must find a way to inform, educate, share and explain best practices in a real-life setting. That does not mean that we shield them from reality – it means giving them the right tools to use social media in a responsible manner. To that end, we are beginning to develop a mission statement and curriculum that will integrate usage into their classroom and social environments. As we start to explore this mostly undocumented process for LD kids, we will share our thoughts and progress and eventually the curriculum. Any existing information you can share is greatly appreciated.

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