101 TECH NEWSLETTER OCT 12, 2021_FINAL

TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER

TECH 101: KEEPING P A RENTS IN THE KNOW

- DR . JO A N MCGETTIG A N , Director of Instructional Technology

Parenting in the Digital A ge Parenting is not for the faint of heart in this rapidly changing technocentric world. Prior to the pandemic a series of presentations were offered to parents in support of their endeavors in managing these challenges. Sessions included: Parenting Young Children in the Digital Age: A Brave New World (elementary parents), Zen and Parenting a Middle Schooler in the Digital Age (middle school parents), and Parenting a Teenager: What is a Digital Footprint? (high school parents). During these presentations, participants discussed the rapid change of technology, appropriate screen time, digital wellness, parenting tips, cybersafety, digital citizenship and positive use of social media. Below are some highlights from each of those presentations along with updated material. The average household has 7 to 8 connected devices, challenging the desire many have to strike a healthy balance of digital use and access. While completely unplugging is an option, developing and modeling habits for appropriate use is more desirable and a viable option for most users. Balanced use of technology not only represents your own digital fluency, it sends a message that connecting face to face is important as well. Parents often serve as the first authors of their child's digital footprint. Modeling appropriate use starts early and is well archived in the footprints along the way.

OCTOBER 13 , 2021

D A RIEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ELEMENT A RY A GE FOCUS

18 months < avoid use of screen media other than video-chatt ing. 18 to 24 months < introduce digi tal media but choose high-qual i ty programming, and watch i t wi th thei r chi ldren to help them understand what they ' re seeing. 2 to 5 years - l imi t screen use to 1 hour per day of high-qual i ty programs . Parents should co-view media wi th chi ldren to help them understand what they are seeing and apply i t to the wor ld around them ( thi s does not include face t ime wi th relat ives) . 6+ - place cons i stent l imi ts on the t ime spent us ing media, and the types of media, and make sure media does not take the place of adequate s leep, phys ical act ivi ty and other behaviors essent ial to heal th. Des ignate media- f ree t imes together , such as dinner or dr iving, as wel l as media- f ree locat ions at home, such as bedrooms . Have ongoing communicat ion about onl ine ci t i zenship and safety , including treat ing others wi th respect onl ine and of f l ine. Appropr iate use of screen t ime was a focal point of the di scuss ion. Part icipants reviewed the Amer ican Academy of Pediatr ics recommendat ions for young chi ldren: Model ing the behavior you wi sh to see in your chi ldren i s a key component in digi tal educat ion. Regular conversat ions regarding media you view together , and agreed upon fami ly l imi ts are al so useful strategies . Review of resources in our Digi tal Ci t i zenship curr iculum, such as Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.org) and Internet Matters ( InternetMatters .org) serve as excel lent resources support ing how to talk to chi ldren about tech use, craf t ing a fami ly usage agreement , recommending appropr iate devices by age and sett ing parental control s . However , the best control i s access ing technology alongs ide each other . Addi t ional takeaways included keeping devices out of bedrooms and in a central locat ion and most important ly , keeping the dialogue open wi th your chi ld.

A ppl ication Lookout: Live . me al lows unseen fol lowers to fol low l ive broadcasts .

OCTOBER 13 , 2021

D A RIEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MIDDLE SCHOOL A GE FOCUS

Users under 13 cannot post videos or comment , and content i s curated for a younger audience. For chi ldren ages 13 to 15 , accounts are pr ivate by defaul t ; only f r iends can comment on videos , and other users can' t duet (explained below) wi th your videos . Only users 16 and over can l ivestream and use di rect messaging, and only users over 18 can buy , send, or receive vi rtual gi f ts . (source: Common Sense Media) TikTok does have parameters based on age level and they do provide sett ings to al low parents some control . Parents can al so use Restr icted Mode to reduce mature content or Fami ly Safety Mode to pai r thei r account wi th thei r chi ld’ s to control sett ings completely . Here are a few helpful t ips f rom Common Sense Media: To make your TikTok account pr ivate, go to your prof i le page and select the three-dot icon in the top- r ight corner . On the "Sett ings and pr ivacy" page, tap Pr ivacy . That takes you to the Di scoverabi l i ty page. Toggle the swi tch for Pr ivate Account . On thi s page, you can al so control other safety and pr ivacy features , such as who can send you comments and di rect messages , and who can do a duet wi th you. Us ing the Fr iends sett ing or turning those features of f completely l imi ts contact wi th strangers . Cl ick here for more informat ion. Another popular appl icat ion among young adul ts i s Snapchat . Snapchat al lows users to share photos , chats and video streams wi th another user . I t i s di f f icul t to check what your chi ld has seen or sent as there i s no feed to check and messages are not stored. Quest ions regarding appropr iateness of var ious technologies , social media, gaming, and cyberbul lying increase dur ing the middle school years . Simi lar to elementary aged students , parents serve as the best model for appropr iate use. When teaching a chi ld to r ide a bike; safety , pedal ing and braking were among the f i rst conversat ions . Parents start wi th developmental ly appropr iate language, training wheel s , and a t ight gr ip on the seat as chi ldren are ready to launch when those training wheel s come of f . When i t comes to technology , training wheel s may need to stay on longer than you think for safety purposes . Keeping conversat ion open about what your chi ld wants to use tech for and creat ing a Fami ly Media Usage agreement together l ike the one l inked here f rom Common Sense Media, are helpful strategies . Most social media appl icat ions requi re that users be 13 years or older due to pr ivacy i ssues and mature content . TikTok in part icular i s al l the rage r ight now. TikTok i s a f ree social media app where users can be creators , consumers , or both. Users can watch, create and share videos r ight f rom thei r phone or device. Lip-synching, s inging, and dancing to popular mus ic are among the more popular uses . TikTok chal lenges are becoming more pervas ive, ranging f rom the good (dancing, s inging, and cooking chal lenges) to the bad (destroying property , harmful pranks , vandal i sm, and violence) . I f you choose to al low your chi ld to use thi s app, i t i s vi tal to ensure that you set pr ivacy sett ings to l imi t what informat ion i s shared and that the company i s under f i re for col lect ing user data ( Last year , Wel l s Fargo banned the app f rom company devices due to secur i ty concerns . )

OCTOBER 13 , 2021

D A RIEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MIDDLE SCHOOL A GE FOCUS ( CONTINUED )

Houseparty i s another app that al lows video streaming wi th up to 8 users , along wi th Facebook, Instagram and YouTube LIve. Dur ing the pandemic , us ing video chat to connect wi th f r iends and fami ly prol i ferated and as l i fe s lowly returns to normal , these apps can be a great di stract ion whi le your chi ld works on homework or other tasks . Open conversat ions around acceptable use along wi th overs ight of pr ivacy sett ings are important . Whi le video streaming apps can be overwhelming and unsett l ing, so are the negat ive ef fects of appl icat ions l ike Instagram. Navigat ing the social media landscape can be scary and Instagram ( Insta) seems on the sur face l ike a fun way to share photos and videos . Insta i s popular wi th al l ages , parents included, but i t does present r i sks , especial ly wi th young gi r l s . The comment ing and “ l ike” feature can be soul crushing and i t i s a good idea to have conversat ions around what i s an acceptable comment to share and what to do i f you receive a negat ive comment . Some adolescents may choose to hide behind a “ f insta” or fake Instagram account . Common Sense Media provides a wonder ful resource, the Parents ’ Ul t imate Guide to Instagram .

" IN THE FUTURE , YOUR DIGIT A L FOOTPRINT WILL C A RRY F A R MORE WEIGHT

TH A N A NYTHING YOU MIGHT INCLUDE IN A RESUME "

- CHRIS BETCHER , GOOGLE FOR EDUC A TION

OCTOBER 13 , 2021

D A RIEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

HIGH SCHOOL A GE FOCUS As teenagers mature, technology chal lenges can become exponent ial ly more complex . Quest ions grow and emerge regarding social media use, gaming, sext ing, cyberbul lying and digi tal footpr ints . Student stress of ten increases as they feel obl igat ions to thei r l ives on screen as much as thei r in person interact ions . Keeping devices where you can see them and not al lowing devices in bedrooms i s a very useful strategy , especial ly in regard to wel lness and appropr iate s leep. In addi t ion to the appl icat ions ment ioned above, s imi lar conversat ions wi th high school students i s a good idea, part icular ly relat ing to l ive video streaming apps l ike LIve.me. Keeping conversat ion l ines open and express ing cur ios i ty about what these apps do and why your chi ld wants to use them supports heal thy use. Your chi ld’ s digi tal footpr int encompasses a range of art i facts f rom photos you may have shared on Facebook or Instagram to videos posted on YouTube. Sett ing Google alerts for members of your fami ly to stay informed may be a helpful t ip ( cl ick here for instruct ions ) . Wi th growing f requency , col lege and job appl icat ions are compromi sed and opportuni t ies are lost due a Google search. In 2017, Harvard famous ly rescinded appearances for at least ten students for obscene memes they had posted. Another factor to cons ider i s ident i ty thef t - teaching your chi ldren to understand pr ivacy sett ings not only protects them, but you as wel l . Ident i ty thef t of ten occurs f rom chi ldren unwi tt ingly shar ing informat ion that should be pr ivate. Minimi z ing the negat ive ef fects of social media and onl ine use i s best accompl i shed through cons i stent fami ly conversat ions around acceptable behaviors , creat ing a fami ly use agreement , serving as a role model , keeping devices in s ight and not in bedrooms and shar ing wi th each other - in thi s case overshar ing i s a good thing. Future Presentat ions We hope that you can join us at a future presentat ion. As always , please reach out wi th quest ions and ideas to support future programming. jmcgett igan@dar ienps .org

T O P I C

D A T E & T I M E

L O C A T I O N

“ P a r e n t i n g Y o u n g C h i l d r e n i n t h e D i g i t a l A g e : A B r a v e N e w Wo r l d ” H o w c a n w e h e l p o u r y o u n g l e a r n e r s d e v e l o p a p p r o p r i a t e h a b i t s w h e n u s i n g t e c h n o l o g y a n d w h a t a r e s ome p o t e n t i a l c o n c e r n s w e n e e d t o k n o w ? “ Z e n a n d P a r e n t i n g a M i d d l e S c h o o l e r i n t h e D i g i t a l A g e ” H o w c a n w e d e v e l o p b a l a n c e w i t h t e c h n o l o g y a n d h e l p o u r p r e t e e n s d e v e l o p h e a l t h y h a b i t s a t t h i s c r i t i c a l a g e . T h i s s e s s i o n p r o v i d e s a n o v e r v i e w o f s c r e e n t i me g u i d e l i n e s , d i g i t a l s a f e t y r e s o u r c e s , c y b e r b u l l y i n g , s o c i a l n e t w o r k i n g a n d mo r e .

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“ P a r e n t i n g a T e e n a g e r : Wh a t i s a D i g i t a l F o o t p r i n t ? ” C ome l e a r n w h a t i s a d i g i t a l f o o t p r i n t a n d w h a t i mp a c t i t ma y h a v e o n y o u r c h i l d ’ s c o l l e g e a dm i s s i o n s a n d f u t u r e emp l o yme n t .

OCTOBER 13 , 2021

D A RIEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS