CCSU’s Office of Continuing Education has teamed up with Tom Pincince, CCSU’s Assistant Athletic Director, to develop a social media education program that will be offered to middle and high school administrators and teachers. It focuses on encouraging safe student use of social media.
Mr. Pincince got involved with social media education after listening to a speaker talk to the student-athletes at CCSU. His goal with his outreach is to educate the younger audience on responsible social media usage, and he has presented on this topic to students at over 50 schools in the state. As a father of three daughters, ages 13, 11 and 8, safe and responsible social media use is a subject that’s near and dear to his heart.
The new program with the Office of Continuing Education is an extension of the work he has been doing with students. He also plans to reach out to Human Resources professionals and develop a similar program for the professional worker, helping them understand that things they post on social media can have ‘real life’ consequences when it comes to their careers. The goal of each program is to stress the importance of making good decisions on social media.
In terms of educating students, Mr. Pincince says, “I think all too often we sit around and tell our students ‘no’, and when it comes to social media education, I believe this is the wrong approach. Instead of saying ‘don’t do this,’ we need to help our students understand why making good decisions is so important, but also show them that there are so many positives when it comes to social media. I want to show them what ‘to do,’ not just ‘what not to do.’ I have spoken with parents and kids all over the state of Connecticut about this, and my feeling as a dad, first and foremost, is that open and honest discussion is important when it comes to educating our kids—and our students—about this topic.”
Mr. Pincince is excited to take his program to the next level with CCSU’s Office of Continuing Education. He is looking forward to a great partnership. If you’d like to learn more about Mr. Pincince’s work on social media education, please visit his website: www.takethisplayoff.com