BOY!! Do we EVER need to talk!

My son Christopher is in grade 8 and my daughter Sarah is in grade 6. We are in the process of getting my son a phone for a graduation present and my daughter owns an Ipod. I, like all of you, read the papers and watch the news at night. It seems that every day some teen or pre-teen is getting themselves in serious trouble with social media. Our board and we as educators are trying to figure out our way through all of this crazy maze of Tumblr, Snapchat, Instagram etc.etc. etc.!! We are going to focus on these issues through Education Week. I am including a letter that is going to be posted on the school blog over the next day or two. Please read it over and give me a call if you have any questions or concerns.

Dear Parents,

The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board recently launched a series of awareness newsletters entitled, “We Need To Talk” (Parent Series).  The intent of the newsletters was to provide you, as parents and guardians, with key information that you can use on a daily basis to assist us in doing all we can to make internet use a safe and useful tool for learning.  These newsletters are still located on our school blog as well as the Board Website.

As an entire Board, we will collectively launch the “We Need To Talk” (Student Series) this month which will focus on Cyber Bullying, Sexting, and Profile Protection; with students in Grades 4-8 taking part in a system wide, three-part series on internet safety.  The information covered will be made available to you on our School/Class website.

All of our lessons and conversations with your children are rooted in and explained from a Catholic perspective.  We believe this is foundational in all that we do on a daily basis.  Moreover, we believe it is crucial to not ‘sugar coat’ the discussion nor the potential consequences possible with the inappropriate use of technology.  These consequences have the potential to bring a life-altering impact to all those involved.

Let us engage our children with love and respect. In so doing, we will promote self-confidence and self- respect. These are the two critical components to the well being of our children. We trust that you will agree and that you will join us in this most important venture.

Topics:

Cyberbullying Adult Tools Come with Adult Consequences

Sexting You Can’t Unsend

Online Responsibility You Post it, You Own it

Video Resources:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4vLnKI6wPt_dEVIZmdIUUJNekU&usp=sharing

Parent Presentation:

On Monday, June 2 at 7 p.m. Paul Davis (http://socialnetworkingsafety.net/sample-page/) will be speaking to a ‘parents only’ audience in the Auditorium at Holy Names Secondary. This is a very informative and impactful presentation that you are all highly encouraged to attend.  All are welcome.