Dear Brahma Family,
I hope everyone had a nice weekend.
This week, I want to address some factors impacting student well-being on campus: unmonitored social media use, cell phone dependence, and a lack of adequate sleep.
Many of the student discipline issues we handle these days can be traced to activity on cell phone apps—especially messaging platforms like Snapchat, Discord, Instagram (DMs), TikTok (DMs), and others. These apps are often used in ways that are hidden from adults but have serious consequences for students, including online bullying, inappropriate content sharing, and the spread of harmful rumors. Furthermore, a person’s digital footprint is permanent. What is shared—even if deleted—can be saved, copied, or screenshotted by others. Many students do not realize that colleges, employers, and scholarship committees can and do look at online behavior. One impulsive post or message can have lasting consequences, even if the school never sees it.
We're also seeing the effects of cell phone addiction and poor sleep habits, both of which significantly impact academic performance and mental health. Excessive phone use late at night—especially in bed—leads to sleep deprivation, which contributes to poor focus, irritability, weakened immune systems, increased anxiety and depression, lower academic performance, and emotional struggles during the school day.
As parents, your guidance is essential. Please consider the following:
- Be familiar with the social media and messaging apps your child uses.
- Have the passwords to your child’s phone and to their apps. You have every right to access your child’s phone. Open communication and transparency are keys to cybersafety.
- Set Boundaries: Limit screen time—especially at night—and keep phones out of bedrooms to support better sleep.
- Have regular open conversations about your child’s online activity, who they interact with, and how it makes them feel.
Our recent Digital Detox Week was one of the best-attended activities of the school year, a hopeful sign that some of our students are willing to reflect on their relationship with technology.
Thank you for helping us keep your children safe, healthy, and focused. Your child’s GLC is ready and willing to partner with you to keep your child healthy and happy, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need their help.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
David Hong
Principal
