Helping our Children Navigate their Online World with Humanity and Compassion

Mental illness, loneliness and low-self-esteem are reaching epidemic proportions in children. Research shows a direct and stark correlation between the uptake of the iPhone in 2011 and the 50% increase in a clinical depression since.

There are many reasons put forward for this –  excessive screen-time, less sleep, less hanging out with friends, selfies and the obsession with body image and beauty, bombardment with advertising and idealised lifestyles, desensitisation to violence, sexting, cyber bullying, and an anonymous online environment with no need to reflect on the impact of their actions.

We need to help our children navigate their online world with humanity and compassion.

At this workshop, run in partership WISE KIDS, Cardiff Against Bullying and Cardiff Schools’ ICT & E- Learning Service, students and teachers will be:

• developing ideas for promoting positive, kind, responsible use of online technologies in their schools;
• reflecting on their roles in peer cultures, and how best they can be upstanders. and model empathy, kindness and self-reflection online and offline
• developing ideas for how their school can create and support a culture of digital citizenship and wellbeing

Using video, audio, blogging and text they’ll capture these ideas as draft plans to discuss with school leadership when they return to school.