Above: An expert on helping kids thrive in the digital world will address Southborough parents. (image right cropped from photo posted to flickr by Summer Skyes 11)
The Southborough community is invited to hear from an expert on parenting in the digital age. It’s part of Southborough Youth and Family Services’ continuing Unplugged initiative.
Earlier this year, SYFS shared that they had been hearing from parents struggling to help their family find balance with devices. Many had family members struggling with technology addiction.
With help from sponsors Southborough Village Preschool and The Friends of the Southborough Library, SYFS is bringing in an expert on “Raising Digital Natives”.
On Wednesday, February 1st from 7:00 – 8:30 pm, Devorah Heitner, PhD will speak at the Southborough Library:
Heitner will offer suggestions about key media issues to discuss with your child. Are your kids asking for cellphones? Do they download apps you don’t recognize. Learn how you can create a smart tech culture in your family where you lead by example.
Heitner’s Ph.D. is in Media/Technology and Society. She wrote the book Screenwise “a realistic and optimistic perspective on how to thoughtfully guide kids in the digital age.”
Many parents feel that their kids are addicted, detached, or distracted because of their digital devices. Media expert Devorah Heitner, however, believes that technology offers huge potential to our children—if parents help them.
Her website explains:
If you are raising kids, you are raising Digital Natives. Sometimes, it feels like they are addicted, detached, or distracted. You can’t see what they are doing “on there.” You use social media, but not the same ways they do.
And it goes deeper than that. Deeper than their experiences today. Our kids need mentorship to become the best people they can be in our connected world. . .
Getting this right sets kids up for a lifetime of success in a world where they are likely to find a job, meet their spouse, and build their reputations in interactive, digital communities.
