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11-08-2024 12:11am
Westwood Schools Holding Cyber Safety Forum for Parents and Caregivers
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Thanks to Westwood Public Schools for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.
An astounding 37 percent of children have experienced online dangers, according to the cyber security agency Kaspersky Lab. Those dangers include inappropriate content, cyber bullying and financial threats. Kaspersky also reports that 40 percent of children reveal sensitive information, including their home addresses, online.
To help caregivers get a better handle on their child’s digital safety, Westwood Public Schools (WPS) is hosting a forum titled “Empowering Caregivers to Provide a Safe and Balanced Digital Experience,” on November 13th at Westwood High School, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
This summer, the WPS School Engagement Committee encouraged parents and caregivers to read the book “Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt. The book delves into the effects smartphone use is having on today’s children, and explores the decline of youth mental health, which the author says is directly related to being constantly connected.
"During the planning conversations with parents, the question of what safeguards can be set up to protect children," said Lateefah Franck, Director of Equity, Integration and Community Partnerships for WPS. “The book talks a lot about prevention. People were telling us they’d already given their child a smartphone and wanted to know what they could do now.”
Franck approached WPS Director of Technology Steven Ouellette with caregivers’ concerns. He recognized the need to provide tools and insight.
“We have established guardrails to protect students in schools,” Franck said. “We want to help parents provide safeguards for their children in the cyber and social media world.”
Ouellette says there are four main buckets he will focus on during the forum. The first is how parents can frame the conversation about safety.
“We live in a world with this ubiquitous access to cell phones and social media,” said Ouellette. “And that is the No. 1 challenge for caregivers. About four years ago, I did an extensive survey of students to find out when they were getting a cellphone. Back then, it was well into the 90th percentile for our sixth graders.”
Ouellette will also use the forum to highlight new curriculum and technology WPS has put into place around digital citizenship. Every student in second through fifth grade is taking this class once a week which focuses on balance, being kind online, and reaching out to responsible adults when needed.
The forum will inform caregivers about the tools WPS has in place to keep students safe, such as filters on Chromebooks, which work on and off campus.
“The final area will focus on what caregivers can do to help provide a safer environment,” said Ouellette. “We will look at controls, timers, and safety options they can put on their child’s smartphones.”
“The premise of Haidt’s book is that, as parents we protect our children from the ‘real world’, but we are under protecting them in the cyber world,” said Franck. This forum is a natural progression to talk parents through how to regulate their child’s access and to talk to them about appropriate content in the cyber community.
Caregivers who cannot attend the forum in person have the option of registering to take part via Zoom (HERE).
