Kai Ming Consulting’s Peter Sutton and late journalist Andrew Hughes co-wrote the book Social Remediation, which aims to help schools minimise the risks of social media and harness its power for good.

The book will be launched in Bathurst on August 29.

Mr Sutton has a long history of working in education, obtaining his Masters in Adult Education and working as a primary school teacher and principal in Australia and overseas.

For the past five years, Mr Sutton has worked with over 250 schools to roll out best practice social media programs.

He said social media gets a bad reputation, but it has the potential to be a useful tool.

“The stories we hear about schools and social media tend to focus on the negatives like  cyberbullying, sexting and naked selfies – so it’s not surprising that the gut response of many  schools and parents is to try and ban social media use,” Mr Sutton said.

“But doing so is impossible and misses the point – which is the power of social media to  build communities and help schools connect with students, parents and those around them.”

Social Remediation explores plans that can be put into place for schools and students to make the most out of social media.

“We’re really looking to schools to adopt social media as a community engagement tool,” Mr Sutton said.

His advice to schools is to use social media as a way to improve communication by telling real stories.

Social media is not a replacement for face-to-face communication, but rather a way to build foundations for better communication.

“Social media is far more accessible than newsletters and even websites – it allows for visual  storytelling, and storytelling in different languages, building communities around those important and influential institutions, which are our schools,” Mr Sutton said.

While looking forward to the book launch, Mr Sutton said it will be bittersweet as he won’t be able to share it with Mr Hughes, who died in a road accident in March.

“Andrew didn’t see the finished book before he died, but his work has left an important legacy for schools, parents and students,” he said.