Middle School Student Workshops

Not long ago the drivers’ license expanded young people’s worlds and provided them with a way to test limits and demonstrate responsibility. In the digital age, that freedom comes a few years earlier. Opportunities for appropriate and inappropriate exploration present themselves as early as middle school when cell phones, the social web and video games become an important part of kids’ lives. Schools are in a position to influence and educate kids about using these new technologies with consideration and regard for individual and community well-being. The student workshops I have developed for the 2011-12 school year address the topics that most directly impact kids, schools and families in the middle school years. They tap into the enthusiasm that 12, 13 and 14 year olds feel about growing up digital and also help them to appreciate and understand limits. Each workshop provides students with the facts about digital life, practical ways to maximize the good and avoid the bad in this new domain, along with hands on skills designed to be taken home and practiced.

1. Digital Street Smarts: Savvy and Safe Having “Digital Street Smarts” means making good and thoughtful decisions that lead to respect, more freedom and better relationships. Digital street smarts go beyond just having knowledge about the proper use of cell phones, video games and the social web. It also involves practical application in areas where kids are called upon to think for themselves.

2. The Digital Side of Social Life Middle school is often the place where students begin to experiment with the social aspects of new technologies. With consideration, good judgment and some limits in place, cell phones and social network sites can provide middle schoolers with an opportunity to use new technologies to enhance their healthy development.

3. Nasty, Snarky, Two-faced and Rude: Alternatives to Meanness on the Social Web To live digitally with a sense of safety, we need guidelines that help us understand how to treat each other in these new digital spaces. This workshop will present students with ways to avoid cyberbullying and online harassment while promoting a sense of community and positive self-expression.

4. How Much Time is the Right Amount of Time? Middle Schoolers and the Digital Clock According to the latest studies, middle schoolers are spending over 7 hours a day with new media and technology. With overbooked schedules and only 24 hours in a day, students are often in the position of having to make difficult choices about what must be sacrificed in their lives. This workshop will help students to make wise choices about how they spend their time on and off the screen.

5. Staying in Sync: Working It Out With Adults Never before have teens and adults had more opportunities for communication and miscommunication. This workshop will help students to better understand adults born in the analog age and learn practical ways to build more positive relationship with teachers and parents.