Navigating the Virtual Playground

Cyberbullying + Texting + Screen Time + Toxic images = Yikes!

As technology grows and adapts, children are growing and adapting right along with it. The online highway can have some steep learning curves, for students and for parents. Youth can find themselves in over their head as technology choices move faster than their developmental abilities. Technology isn’t a bad thing, but young people need help in navigating these tools so that their empathy and sense of self can also grow and develop. This presentation details the risks students are facing and practical, positive ways that adults can respond.

Objectives:

• Identify the challenges that occur when developing brains and screen time collide

• Understand how grooming is used in online exploitation cases with a specific focus on the attention/affection trap

• Build a safety net of 5 trusted adults for each child or youth in their care