And Digital Challenges Presented to Grade 6 Parents Wednesday, Feb Geoff Smith Secondary School Principal Lincoln Community School

“ Tasks of Adolescent Development ” What you have to look forward to!

“ Am I Getting Smarter? ” Abstract thinking Perspective taking Decision-making Problem-solving Conflict management CHALLENGE: Argumentative, Advice-giving POSITIVES: Livelier discussions, Independence

Prefrontal Cortex CEO of the brain; last part to mature; Responsible for decision making; rational thoughts Amygdala Emotional center; teens rely more heavily on this area; Can explain why adolescents react more impulsively

“ Do Kids Like Me? ” Peer acceptance Social skills Complex emotions CHALLENGE: Negative peer pressure POSITIVES: Peer approval for academics, athletics, arts

“ Who Is That In The Mirror? ” Personal Identity Positive view of self Moral standards/values Belief systems CHALLENGE: Experimenting POSITIVES: Growing realism of strengths/weaknesses

The 21 st Century Learner presented by Kim Cofino presentation resources: professional blog:

always on

life outside the classroom

social

increasingly digital

constantly connected

instant access

communicators & creators effective

 Kids want belonging  Kids are becoming  Kids are Always on  Kids are Increasingly digital  Kids are Social  Kids are Connected  Kids expect Instant access  Kids brains are developing (immaturely)

What are your thoughts at this moment? What does this say to you?

 Challenges  Opportunities  What do I do?  What decisions are best?  Individual choices & Family decisions  Where’s balance?  Trust and Mistakes  Communication

 A 10 th grader A 10 th grader  Another 10 th grader Another 10 th grader  What did 8 th graders say?  What did 6 th graders say?  What did 11 th and 12 th graders say?



Cyber Bullying

 Some common MYTHS: It ’ s a virtual place to hide No witnesses No scene of the crime  REALITY: It is much easier to say something mean to someone when you are not saying it face to face…

 The “ Power Hungry ”  The “ Vengeful Angel ”  The “ Mean Girls ”  The “ Computer Savvy ”  The “ Inadvertent Cyber Bully ”

 Like the traditional school yard bully  Wants to show their power  Needs an audience  Often brags about what they have done

 Usually the target of earlier bullying incident  They don't see themselves as a bully  Feels that they are “ righting a wrong ”  Sees themselves as the protector of others

 Usually the bullying is planned by a group of girls to be done to another girl  It is a form of entertainment for them  Bullying gets more intense as more people know about it and praise the original group  Many people are silent about it because they do not want to become the new target for the group

 Often the victim of off-line bullying (physical or verbal abuse)  May be physically smaller than their peers  May often be picked on for not being popular enough  They have greater technical skills and use them to get back at their tormentors

 Don ’ t see themselves as cyber bullies  Do it “ Because I can ”  Communicating on-line makes them feel “ tougher ”, more in control  Don ’ t think before pressing “ SEND ”

 FLAMMING: Fight through text and with angry words  HARASSMENT: repeatedly sending offensive, rude, insulting messages  CYBERSTALKING: repeatedly sending messages that threaten to harm or humiliate  DENIGRATION: Insulting and/or humiliating someone on-line  IMPERSONATION: posing as another person  OUTING & TRICKERY: sharing secrets  EXCLUSION: excluding someone from an online buddy list or from your social networking site