Facebook's recent acknowledgment that social media may be making its users feel bad in some cases is a significant milestone. So far, the technology industry hardly has talked about the downsides of their products.

Academic research in a Facebook blog post in December documented that when people spend a lot of time passively consuming information, they feel worse. For example, clicking or liking too many links and posts can have a negative effect on mental health. Some researchers also believe that reading rosy stones about others leads to negative comparisons about one's life and that being online too much reduces in-person socializing. Social media may well be making many of us unhappy, jealous and anti-social. Although Facebook said that, as a result of the assessments, it would make some changes to its platform. It also highlighted some of the benefits of using the social network. It explained that “sharing messages, posts and comments with close friends and recalling about past interactions” can make people feel better. “The research and other academic literature suggest that it’s how you use social media that matters when it comes to your well-being,” Facebook said.

But that approach doesn’t seem to be an effective solution for those who can’t pull themselves away from such platforms. The Pew Research Center estimates that 24 percent of teens go online “almost constantly”. It is becoming a matter of addiction.

We need to be aware of what we are up against. Remember when we would just pick up the phone and call someone rather than email them and create greater misunderstandings. This may be an old-fashioned choice, but the right one. And maybe we should just turn away from our screens sometimes and meet our friends and family in person.

Imagine a school that expected its students to become literate without any formal instruction. Most parents would be alarmed by such an approach, which would leave their children confused and with gaps in their understanding. This, however, has been the philosophy on character development in many of our schools. Why is the development of character seen as somehow different from the other skills that we teach?

Of course there will always be learning by osmosis (耳濡目染) in any school, but as a teacher and primary school head I have found that a child’s moral literacy is strengthened when they acquire the building blocks of good character such as consideration, courage and honor: qualities which are commonly known as virtues.

I personally find that exploring a virtue over a two-week period provides a simple and effective program that allows for the creative input of both teacher and student and a chance for the virtue to embed (使融入) itself. Once a lesson on a virtue such as honesty has been completed we need to allow time for children to practice this concept just as would be the case with fractions or verbs. Allowing children to role play a situation such as making up excuses to cover a mistake can be enormously interesting, and the drama can be frozen allowing the characters to be questioned about their feelings and motives. It’s also a safe way for children to experience for themselves how a lie usually goes out of control.

Our role as educators is also to look for opportunities to help our students as they attempt to strengthen their characters. When something goes wrong we guide the young person to the virtue that will prevent it from happening again. For instance, when a student thoughtlessly disturbs the calm atmosphere of the library, instead of a response such as, “that was really disrespectful and selfish of you!” we draw out from them the required virtue: “When you’re walking through the library, what virtues do you need to use?”

Leo Tolstoy once said, “Nothing is so necessary for a young man as having an intelligent woman.” Intelligence is so wonderful. It is sad to know that some people think that they are good-looking until they wear make-up. The only thing some people have is facial values. They lack inner worth. It is your self-worth rather than your face-worth that determines your personality. So, try to pay more attention to your “brain” than to your “face”.

We are living in a world where being natural is no longer fashionable. Many people have become victims of their own uncontrollable addiction to make-up. Some have spent too much time in “caking” their faces. Many creative ideas have been buried in make-up products. William Shakespeare said in one of his excellent plays Hamlet, “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.”

People are beautiful, not in looks but just in the way they are. Using make-up is great, but unreasonable addiction to it is robbing us of our ability to spend quality time on the things that truly matter.

Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself. By being your true self, you will attract people that are real. The search for self-worth is not a skin issue; healthy self-worth begins by finding what cannot be destroyed inside.

Don’t ruin your natural beauty with too much make-up. Make-up time is necessary for people but should not be more important than personal development. We should be creative and not be addicted to make-up. We should fight for healthy beauty standards. There is nothing more attractive than healthy self-worth. Once you see your own beauty, so will everyone else. Good looks and pretty faces might attract people to us, but virtue and character will keep the right people around us.

We must first deepen our relationships with ourselves before we entirely concentrate on how we look in make-up. Besides, there is more to life than good looks. By building a lifestyle around our values, we can create a life that is more satisfying, meaningful, and fulfilling.