'We want our kids to be ready': Raleigh school puts social media into its curriculum

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Raleigh school is dealing head-on with some of the hardest issues facing our young children.

A lot of those issues revolve around social media, which is built into the curriculum at the Montessori School of Raleigh.

Fourth through 12th grades have these social media lessons built in now, and when we visited, 3rd graders were in a focus group to share their online habits.

"People do look at their social media presence, online footprints and we want our kids to be ready for that," said Melissa Edwards, director of educational technology at the school. "We want to make sure our kids are ready for walking out into the world and shielding them from these kinds of experiences doesn't serve that purpose."

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The curriculum is from Laura Tierney and the Social Institute which is Durham-based. She founded it years ago to provide an online learning platform to empower students and keep them safe in the digital world.

"It's more important now more than ever to empower and equip instead of scare and restrict," Tierney said. "You will never really be ahead of the curve when it comes to your students and technology. Really we are always learning from students collectively. The more we get on their level and hear about their experiences that they're navigating, it's a win-win for everyone."

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