In Common Sense Media Teen Panel, Eighth Graders Advise Younger Boys on Media Use

Saint David's is committed to facilitating our boys' development into good digital citizens who engage in appropriate, safe, and healthy online behavior. In this effort, the school partners with Common Sense Media. On Tuesday, Tali Horowitz and current parent Samira Sine of CSM facilitated a Teen Advisory Panel featuring our eighth graders Jack, Colin, and Will. Members of the Common Sense Teen Council, these boys have collaborated this year with CSM on a variety of topics related to navigating the digital landscape.

At Tuesday's panel discussion, the older boys answered questions that our fifth and sixth graders had generated in their Sophrosyne health and wellness class units on digital citizenship. The purpose of the panel was for our eighth graders, as leaders, to help the younger Saint David's boys know how to use technology wisely and responsibly.

Questions posed included what the older boys enjoy most about social media and You Tube, how they determine what to post (and what not to), cyber bullying issues, how to manage tech use so that it doesn't become distracting, and the ways in which technology may have helped them be more creative.

Hanging on every word spoken by the panel, the fifth and sixth graders listened like younger brothers receiving advice and wisdom from caring older siblings. The intellectual curiosity and seriousness with which Jack, Colin, and Will considered each question reflected a maturity and understanding among our eighth graders about the complexities of the digital world, as well as their commitment to the well-being of the younger boys.

What great leadership our eighth grade panel demonstrated in providing this experience for the fifth and sixth graders, and what a proud moment for our school!

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