Meetings Focus on Tech Issues at HCS

RFH 2010, Featured Articles, HCS News

Thu, Aug 18, 2011

Parents need to attend meetings that explain issues of technology use and cyber-safety.

Parents of HCS students will have several opportunities to learn about and discuss online issues, especially cyber bullying and Internet safety, at meetings scheduled in the next several weeks.

The meetings are mandatory for parents of students in third through 12th grades, and last about an hour. The meetings are for parents only, and the school will be offering child care if it is needed.

Click here to select the session you wish to attend.

The HCS website says the sessions are meant to "... strengthen communication and keep parents informed and up-to-date on cyber-safety, technology trends and kids, and 'things you should know'.

"In order for students to be granted access to our computer network and the Internet, parents must attend just one of the six sessions that we will be offering."

The meetings will cover:

Keeping parents informed: the district wants parents know how it is approaching the subject of responsible use of technology at school (texting, Internet use, cyber-bullying etc.) and outside of school as well.
How parents can monitor and help educate their children on the responsible use of technology.
Review of the district's "Acceptable Use Policy for Technology" and an explanation of why the rules are what they are.
A question and answer/suggestion session about anything related to any type of technology and its use.

The meetings are scheduled for:

August 29th - 1pm (Monday)
August 29th - 6pm (Monday)
August 30th - 1pm (Tuesday)
August 30th - 6pm (Tuesday)
September 6th - 6pm (Tuesday)
September 15th - 5pm (Thursday)

Superintendent Dr. Diana Bowers wrote about technology and the meetings in a recent blog posting:

In our continued dedication to our students and their safety, HCS will resume our focus on the concepts of Cyber-safety and cyber-bullying with our students and their families this year, as we did last year. As you may remember, last year we invited John Halligan in to meet with our secondary students and their parents regarding the dangers of Cyber-bullying. John's son Ryan tragically took his life as the result of the torment he endured by his peers over a long period of time, when he was in middle school. John appealed to our students to realize the impact of their actions behind the computer screen and began the focused discussion on being responsible with their behavior when they are on social networking sights. He went on to stress the importance of communicating with a responsible adult if this type of harassment is occurring in their life.

Since that presentation, the exchange continued in our Choices, Leadership and Health classes, in training sessions with the Colgate affiliated NCBI (National Coalition of Building Institute), and within our Think Tank, among other classes. Two things became evident in these dialogues; the first, this issue(s) is a constant, on-going concern for our tech savvy children, and the second, the adults in these young students' lives may not always be aware of the predicament they face or the situation they put themselves in within cyberspace. We have come to understand that vigilance is necessary, both at home and in school, if our students are to realize the potential magnitude of this situation.

With this in mind, HCS will be hosting a mandatory meeting for parents, as part of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which allows students the privilege of using the available technology within HCS. This meeting will address the issues outlined above as well as information on My Space, Facebook and other social networking sights that all parents should know. We understand how important your time is and are appreciative of the time you will give us to attend these meetings. This issue is simply too important not to address it as a community issue. At times like this, "It takes a Village."

The meetings will be held during the day and in the evenings, before school begins, or after the start of school. Our Assistant Principal Bill Dowsland, will be there along with Denny Roy, our director of technology and our guidance staff. We look forward to seeing you at one of these meetings.

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