At the very beginning of the month Fulbright ETA Kiyoko “Kiki” Nakamura-Koyama asked the students to calculate “How many years of your life would you spend on Instagram before you died (80 years)?”

Students answers ranged anywhere between 3.6 to 14.4 years. During the eleventh graders three-week long unit on social media, the students participated in an informal silent debate, watched Black Mirror’s “Nosedive,” wrote a reflective piece on the merits and demerits of social media and finally participated in a formal debate on the motion “This house believes that social media does more harm than good.” The students passionately defended their opinions. Students’ honest introspection on their own usage of social media and how that will impact their future in both positive and negative ways was inspiring. After the unit ended ETA Kiki deleted Instagram from her phone.

Kiyoko “Kiki” Nakamura-Koyama is currently teaching at SMA Santo Yosef Pangkalpinang, Bangka-Belitung