How to safely navigate our digital world is an important conversation for families and educators to have with children. Opportunities for teaching those skills are coming this month. 

Lessons at school. During Digital Citizenship Week and throughout the school year, many of our CUSD teachers will be using digital citizenship lessons fromCommon Sense Media. Digital citizenship is about confident, safe and positive engagement with digital technologies. It helps students to empathize with one another and to think critically about the choices they make online.

While the negative impacts of social media on children and society have been the topic of news reports and dinner conversations lately, it is important to remember that technology also has many benefits. It provides students with more equity in accessing learning, can be a tool for creating rather than passively consuming, and can build skills they will need to succeed in the Information Age.

“Technology is how our children are going to interact with the world," said Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. "We would be doing them a disservice if we didn’t engage them in using technology effectively as a tool and not a distraction. We are aware of the research linking social-emotional wellbeing and media use, and we are committed to partnering with you to support our students engaging effectively and safely through social media."  

Support for home. We encourage you to attend a virtual meeting for parents, October 26, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., called Digital Wellness: Parenting in the age of online distractions. Host Jaimie Nuñez, Regional Manager at Common Sense Education, offers parents insight about the latest trends in digital media and ways to shift their family's online behaviors.

Common Sense Media also offers Digital Citizenship Family Engagement Conversation Starters to help parents talk to their children about technology use and healthy boundaries.

These links may be of particular interest:

K–2 SEL Family Conversations in: English | Spanish

3–5 SEL Family Conversations in: English | Spanish

6–8 SEL Family Conversations in: English | Spanish

Common Sense Media's parent website offers information in English and Spanish: Common Sense Media or Common Sense Latino. Families may also find discussing and committing to the Common Sense Media Family Media Agreement valuable.