Panther Press

During our recent School Counseling Brain Building lessons, students focused on Digital Citizenship and learning how to handle mean behavior online. These lessons helped students develop the skills needed to be kind, respectful, and safe digital citizens while building confidence in responding to online conflicts and unkind interactions. Students learned that their words and actions online can have a real impact on others and explored ways to make responsible choices when using technology.

Here is a quick look at what students at each grade level learned:

• Kindergarten: Learned the importance of being kind both in person and online and practiced identifying helpful versus hurtful words.

• 1st Grade: Explored how online messages can make others feel and practiced using kind words and actions when communicating digitally.

• 2nd Grade: Learned strategies for responding when someone is mean online, including stopping, taking a break, and telling a trusted adult.

• 3rd Grade: Discussed how online communication can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and practiced ways to respond respectfully and seek help when needed.

• 4th Grade: Examined the effects of cyberbullying and learned how to be an "upstander" by supporting others and reporting hurtful online behavior.

• 5th Grade: Students learned strategies for handling conflicts, standing up to cyberbullying, and making safe, responsible choices online.

In the Media Center, students have been learning about protecting themselves online.

• Kindergarteners set the tone for media literacy by learning what "media" is, and how devices help us access it.
• First graders played a red light/green light game to reinforce the difference between safe websites (vetted by trusted adults, clearly intended for their age group) and unsafe websites (sites where chat is a feature, where images are geared toward older kids, or sites that make them feel uncomfortable).
• Second graders learned how to protect their information at school by not sharing passwords and always logging out of shared devices.
• Third Graders learned how to create an effective username and password for sites that require it.
• Fourth Graders learned what phishing is, and how to identify a phishing email when they receive it.
• Fifth Graders discussed media influence, and how certain "tones" of videos are specifically designed to increase engagement for the wrong reasons.

Through all of these conversations, a common thread was this: When in doubt, talk to a trusted adult. With all grade levels, we spent time naming trusted adults both at home and at school, and we reinforced how any discomfort at all — even over a situation that turns out to be safe — is an instinct worth honoring.

During our latest round of Brain Building lessons, students focused on Digital Citizenship with a special emphasis on healthy habits and technology! These lessons were designed by Commonsense Media to help students understand the importance of finding a healthy balance between screen time and other active, screen-free activities, while empowering them to stay active and make healthy choices on and off devices.

Here is a quick look of what students at each grade level learned:

· Kindergarten: Learned strategies for how to say a healthy "goodbye" to technology when screen time is over.

· 1st Grade: Explored simple ways to recognize and manage device distractions to help students learn, focus and build positive tech habits.

· 2nd Grade: Celebrated the importance and fun, device-free moments throughout the day, while learning to differentiate when it’s healthy to use technology and when it’s not.

· 3rd Grade: Helped students understand the brain's attention limits, tech distractions and how technology can sometimes make it hard to stay on task.

· 4th Grade: Discovered the power of positive thinking—both on and off devices! Students learned strategies to challenge negative thoughts that try to trick us into believing things that might not be true.

· 5th Grade: Investigated persuasive “design tricks” built into apps and games that make users want to keep playing and try to hold attention longer than planned. Students were encouraged to stay in control of their tech time, make healthy choices about tech habits, and follow family tech rules.

Together, let’s continue support our kids in developing balanced minds, strong bodies, and healthy habits—both online and off! For more information, visit Commonsensemedia.org.