๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐๐ฟ๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐
Elevate Education is hosting a free webinar series for parents to help prepare their children for exams and assessments.
The second webinar in this series – which will be focussing on ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐บ, ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ-๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ – will be held this Thursday evening, 19 August, at 18:00.
Union’s parents are invited to register for the event (for free) atย https://get.elevatecoaching.info/za/register
[ Elevate is a global education organisation that helps over 1 million students to improve their study skills and boost academic performance. You can learn more about them atย https://za.elevateeducation.comย ]
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ (๐๐๐) ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ.ย ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ง๐ง ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ, ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญโ๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, 2 ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด, 1 ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด.
Most teens use some form of social media and have a profile on a social networking site. Many visit these sites every day.
There are plenty of good things about social media – but also many risks and things kids and teens should avoid. They don’t always make good choices when they post something to a site, and this can lead to problems.
So it’s important to talk with your kids about how to use social media wisely.
What’s Good About Social Media
Social media can help kids:
- stay connected with friends and family
- volunteer or get involved with a campaign, non-profit, or charity
- enhance their creativity by sharing ideas, music, and art
- meet and interact with others who share similar interests
- communicate with educators and fellow learners
What’s Bad About Social Media
The flipside is that social media can be a hub for things likeย cyberbullyingย and questionable activities. Without meaning to, kids can share more online than they should.
Most teens:
- post photos of themselves online or use their real names on their profiles
- reveal their birthdates and interests
- post their school name and the town where they live
This can make them easy targets for online predators and others who might mean them harm.
In fact, many teens say they have:
- been contacted online by someone they didn’t know in a way that made them feel scared or uncomfortable
- received online advertising that was inappropriate for their age
- lied about their age to get access to websites
Concerns and Consequences
Besides problems like cyberbullying and online predators, kids also can face the possibility of a physical encounter with the wrong person. Many apps automatically reveal the poster’s location when they’re used. This can tell anyone exactly where to find the person using the app.
And photos, videos, and comments made online usually can’t be taken back once they’re posted. Even when a teen thinks something has been deleted, it can be impossible to completely erase it from the Internet.
Posting an inappropriate photo can damage a reputation and cause problems years later – such as when a potential employer or college admissions officer does a background check. And sending a mean-spirited text, even as a joke, can be very hurtful to someone else and even taken as a threat.
Spending too much time on social media can be a downer too. Seeing how many “friends” others have and the pictures of them having fun can make kids feel bad about themselves or like they don’t measure up to their peers.
What Can Parents Do?
It’s important to be aware of what your kids do online. But snooping can alienate them and damage the trust you’ve built together. The key is to stay involved in a way that makes your kids understand that you respect their privacy but want to make sure they’re safe.
Tell your kids that it’s important to:
- Be nice.ย Mean behaviour is not OK. Make it clear that you expect your kids to treat others with respect, and to never post hurtful or embarrassing messages. And ask them to always tell you about any harassing or bullying messages that others post.
- Think twice before hitting “enter.”ย Remind teens that what they post can be used against them. For example, letting the world know that you’re off on vacation or posting your home address gives would-be robbers a chance to strike. Teens also should avoid posting specific locations of parties or events, as well as phone numbers.
- Follow the “WWGS?” (What Would Grandma Say?) rule.ย Teach kids not to share anything on social media that they wouldn’t want their teachers, college admissions officers, future bosses โ and yes, grandma โ to see.
- Use privacy settings.ย Privacy settings are important. Go through them together to make sure your kids understand each one. Also, explain that passwords are there to protect them against things like identity theft. They should never share them with anyone, even a boyfriend, girlfriend, or best friend.
- Don’t “friend” strangers.ย “If you don’t know them, don’t friend them.” This is a plain, simple โ and safe โ rule of thumb.
Make a Contract
Consider making a “social media agreement” with your kids – a real contract they can sign. In it, they agree to protect their own privacy, consider their reputation, and not give out personal information. They also promise not to use technology to hurt anyone else through bullying or gossip.
In turn, parents agree to respect teens’ privacy while making an effort to be part of the social media world. This means you can “friend” and observe them, but don’t post embarrassing comments or rants about messy rooms.
Parents also can help keep kids grounded in the real world by putting limits on media use. Keep computers in public areas in the house, avoid laptops and smartphones in bedrooms, and set some rules on the use of technology (such as no devices at the dinner table).
And don’t forget: Setting a good example through your own virtual behaviour can go a long way toward helping your kids use social media safely.
Source: โTeaching Kids to Be Smart About Social Mediaโ โ www.kidsorg.co.za