My Student has a new iPad...
now what?
What do you do now?
As a parent, we all have concerns about what our child is doing, seeing and communicating online. We have thoughts about screen time, our children "checking out" at home and "checking in" to their iPad. And homework! He says he's doing homework but is he really? On this poster you will find some helpful tips and tricks to help you manage your child's new iPad and still keep them engaged in your family life.
What safety features are in place for your child at home?
Glad you asked! There are several filters that the RSS system is using to help keep your child safe online. The Internet is filtered at school and at home, with an additional filter in place at home. This additional filter is called Z-Scaler. Your child will have to log into Z-Scaler at home in order to access the internet. Directions for doing this are below and are also located on the tag on the back of your child's iPad. (Please note that their Z-Scaler logon is different than their email address.) Logging into Z-Scaler will only have to be done once as long as your child does not clear their History in Safari.
As a side note, there is no reason for a child to clear their history, so if you notice this happening, you may want to inquire about it.
Common Sense Media
This website is an excellent resource for parent information on all types of digital media content. I highly recommend it.
A Parent's Concerns About an iPad in the Home
The following article discusses one parent's concerns and questions about how to keep her child engaged in home life while still having a device at hand.
iPad Screen Time: Is all screen time created equal?
Not necessarily.....Check out this link to see one person's take on iPad activities.
Social Media Issues
Our students have rapidly entered the world of Social Media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pic Collage, Kik, and oovoo just to name a few. While this may seem harmless to some (we as adults use these all the time), children may not yet have the social skills necessary to navigate these sites and their contacts. Many of these sites also require that you be 13 to create an account. I am encouraging our students to not create accounts with age limits of 13 or over. Below you will find a link to an article about some of the issues your child may encounter on these sites.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-greenberg/8-problems-with-teens-social-media_b_3472816.html?
Digital Citizenship
As a county, RSS has created a digital citizenship curriculum that is based on the framework from CommonSense Media. All grades K - 12 have 18 lessons that are taught over the course of the school year that cover digital citizenship topics such as copyright laws, your digital footprint, social interactions online and other relevant topics. These are taught by the classroom teacher, media coordinator, guidance counselor and technology facilitator. Students are exposed to a variety of activities and topics and are asked to share their thoughts, feels and concerns regarding their digital lives.
Additional Concerns
If you have additional concerns about your child's iPad, please contact your child's teacher or the school technology facilitator. We are here to help you!