Today's technology isn't going away any time soon, so students and parents need to adapt in ways that will keep them and their relationships with each other safe and healthy.
That's the message Safer Schools Together vice-president Sam Jingfors gave to parents and students in schools in Olds and Bowden recently.
"We did an hour-and-a-half overview of social media through a safe schools lens; how it impacts their classrooms, how it impacts their own personal privacy and how much information is available and searchable on themselves as individuals, but also how that impacts now teaching digitally-focused learners, "Jingfors said during an interview with the Albertan.
He said in the case of students in grades 11 and 12, the focus was on how they can best "brand themselves" so that they don't hurt their chances of getting a job in the future as a result of things they may have posted in the past.
"Technology’s not going anywhere. And we now know that universities, colleges and employers are Googling applicants before they’re even stepping foot into an interview," Jingfors said. "So does your digital footprint represent how you’ve just represented yourself in an in-person interview? Those two paradigms should line up."
Cyberbullying was another issue.
"I try to just bring it back to human basics of compassion and empathy and really the golden rule of treating others the way you’d want to be treated, and trying to shift that mindset into their thinking online, because there’s a couple of pieces there that, with technology -- the dis-inhibition effect, if you will -- of not actually seeing the whites of other people’s eyes as (you would) if you had a discussion with them face to face," Jingfors said.
"Those inhibitions aren’t there, and typically, we see that play out with people and students saying things that they typically wouldn’t say in person.
"So we try to talk about longer-term ramifications of the things you post online. But also just trying to take care of each other, and being compassionate. In the same way that they’re showing respect and compassion for their peers at school, it’s doing the same thing online," he added.
The message -- especially the cyberbullying piece -- was much the same when he talked to students younger than Grade 11.
"I guess the compassion piece and the technology pieces in general are similar with the younger folks, but we’re trying to protect them as much as possible, so we try to limit exposure," Jingfors said.
"We are trying to get them to look at how much personal information they’re giving away when they sign up for a platform, and not to click on pop-up advertisements when they come up because those could contain adware or malware or (other) malicious software that do a bunch of other things to devices and computers.
"I try to be a straight shooter with the students because I feel that they get a lot of finger wagging in their face of ‘don’t do this’ and ‘don’t do that.’"
When it came to parents, Jingfors recommended guiding their children in a positive way, not punishing them for going on certain sites or hovering over them to check on what they're seeing.
"Basically we can chase apps all day long and the technology is always going to continue to evolve. It quite literally is a full-time (job) keeping up with where they are headed," Jingfors said.
"But if we spend more of our effort as parents focusing on establishing that dialogue and relationship of openness and trust, our kids are – in my mind – more likely to come to us when an issue does come up.
"We can only prohibit and restrict technology for a certain portion of their lives. We have to learn to kind of work that into their lives and their daily ebbs and flows of their lives that will enhance their future.
"We know that prohibition hasn’t worked in the history books and it certainly I don’t think is the answer for our kids today. It’s trying to enable and empower them to use tech as they move forward in (their) lives," he added.
He urged parents to establish limits for the amount of time their kids spend on various devices and talk to them about technology -- its pros and cons.
However, Jingfors said that has to be done diplomatically.
"There’s no app for empathy, there’s no app for compassion and there’s no update for teaching these inherent strong family values. That’s still their main job as parents -- to support their kids going through this journey," he said.
Jingfors also had advice for students when it comes to sexting -- sending sexually explicit messages and/or images to each other.
"My advice is really just to look at it more from despite the fact that it is illegal. Anything – any intimate or naked or semi-nude photo of any student, because they’re under the age of 18, -- is considered child pornography," Jingfors said. "Possessing or sharing those images has a legal consequence and is followed up by police, etc."
That being said, Jingfors believes laws aren't necessarily the most effective deterrence.
"I try to approach it from a reputation perspective, and the fact that once you hit ‘send’ on an image, you can’t get that image back. I try to look at it more from a standpoint of what if that picture gets out? Are you OK with that?
"So even if you just send it to somebody that you’re in a relationship with, how do you know that they’re not going to share it with anybody else? And if you guys break up, how do you ever get that image back? And the reality is, you can’t," he added.
"I just try to make sure they have all the facts of the permanence of the Internet. That’s the fact that these things don’t go away and you have to be OK with that potentially coming back to bite you in the future."
