Practical and Ethical Considerations for Schools Using Social Media to Promote Physical Literacy in Youth

Abstract

The rapid development of social media has led to its increased use by children and adolescents for health and well-being purposes. Accordingly, social interactions resulting from social media use can be further integrated into physical and health education pedagogy. Given the relationship between increased physical literacy and positive health outcomes, best practices and lessons learned from social media use in the healthcare industry should be adopted by health and physical educators practicing in schools. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to comment on several practical and ethical challenges and opportunities associated with using social media to improve physical literacy among youth. Specifically, two of the most prominent issues are discussed in depth: (1) integration of social media in physical education settings that educate children and adolescents about the biopsychosocial effects of physical activity, and (2) use of wearable technologies among youth to accrue experiences that enhance physical literacy competencies. In our opinion, health and physical educators who utilize the ALL-ENGAGE Playbook described in this commentary will successfully reach, engage, and impact students with popular social media that adequately promotes physical literacy, including through experiential use of wearable technologies.

Exploring the adoption of social media in self-paced physical activity in early childhood education: a case in central China

“…Researchers have claimed in recent years that social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have positively promoted physical health for a lifetime (JOPERD, 2017). More recently, physical activities have been promoted not only by the adoption of social media tools via online platforms but also by incorporating them into digital mobile equipment (Bopp & Stellefson, 2020;Goodyear et al, 2019). Studies found that wearable digital technologies among the youth are beneficial for improving their understanding of digital-physical activity and health technologies and have been influenced by schools, physical education, sports, family, and peers (Goodyear et al, 2019).…”

Actividad física y uso de redes sociales en estudiantes de secundaria. Diferencias por sexo y grado escolar (Physical activity and use of social media, in high school students. Differences by sex and school grade)

“…El rápido desarrollo de los medios de comunicación social ha hecho que aumente su utilización por parte de los niños y adolescentes con fines de salud y bienestar (Bopp & Stellefson, 2020). Encontrar el equilibrio entre costo y beneficio es el principal reto; el empleo de los medios tradicionales en promoción en salud implica altos costos y planificar una campaña con resultados similares en redes sociales, los reduce significativamente (Acevedo, Toctaguano & Troya, 2019).…”

An Evaluation Model for the Teaching Reform of the Physical Education Industry

“…In addition, the teaching reform of sports industry also presents the characteristics of periodicity and randomness. Comprehensive analysis is needed to effectively identify the uncontrollable factors in the reform [1].…”