Time

Activity

Facilitator Notes

00:00

Welcome and Introductions

We rely on our phones for many uses, communication, camera, calculator, and more. We can all relate to some part of this commercial

• Show a short video that illustrates the amount of texting done by adults.  
  Suggestion - Really: New Windows Phone 7 Official Ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHlN21ebeak)

With purposeful boundaries and proper example we can better monitor and guide students in their use, enjoy closer relationships with our children, and gain valuable educational support.

When showing the video ask participants to count how many of the examples they saw are ones that they have engaged in.  

Ask them to share the number either by a show of hands or using a polling service like Poll Everywhere.

00:05

Boundaries

Teach your child(ren) the when, where, how, and who for using cell phones and text messaging so that you can prevent problems and enjoy the benefits!

• When...establish off hours such as bed time, meal time, family time, homework time.  Be consistent about them.  Kids need to know that it is okay to be out of contact for periods of time.  It will be reassuring to them to know that they will not loose their friends if they do not text back immediately.  They will concentrate better, sleep better, interact with the family better without the phone distractions.  It is simply a matter of establishing the habits.

*If you suspect your child is texting late into the night, check your bill.  You will see the times the text messages are going out and coming in.

• Where...phones should not be in a child’s bedroom overnight.  Have a central charging place where all members of the family plug in their phones for the night.  Have a basket where the phones go in the kitchen during mealtime and homework...unless they’re using their cells as a part of their homework.
• How...on demand phone checks as a set structure is a great preventative measure. “Text Reviews” can be a standard procedure, not a reaction to a concern. Of course messages can be erased immediately, but the knowledge that you care and you want to be involved in their lives is always a good message to send.  When you have ongoing check ins, it is not spying or a sign of mistrust, it is just a check in.
  Note:  If you have concerns, you may need to take the phone, even if all messages are erased, and read incoming messages.  You may gain a lot of insight from them.  Open a conversation with your child about phone safety, their relationships with others, etc.  Showing your child you care will help ease the stress over the phone. Whether they admit it or not, they’ll appreciate knowing that you’re there watching out for them.

• Who...there is never a substitute for knowing your child’s friends and their friends’ family.  Taking the time to meet them, have them over, being involved in group activities always pays off.  Taking that one step further and having their cell phone numbers is even better.  When your child goes with a friend, get the friend’s number in case your child’s phone is lost or the battery dies.  When your child goes to a friend’s house, get the number of that friend’s household in case they go somewhere and you need to contact them. These are just standard parenting practices going mobile.
  
  Team up with other parents.  When kids know that you have their friends’ parents numbers and they have yours, it creates a new level of connection and will help guide their choices.  Working together in the best interests of the children is a parenting goal supported by cell phones and text messaging.
  
  Note: With a list of numbers from friends and households, you can check your  bill. If new numbers are showing up, you can talk to your child about their “new” friends offer to meet them or have them over.  This opens up a conversation about giving out and asking for numbers and enables you to discuss who they are texting.

Create “Cell Phone Boundaries” worksheets for parents to complete that have a section for “When,” “Where,” “How,” and “Who.”  After explaining each section give parents time to complete sheets for their homes and ask some share what they’ve created.  

Consider incorporating the Safety workshop as an additional portion/supplement this section.

00:20

Parenting by Example    

It’s been said that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the blackberry.  We are our children’s example.  If they see us texting at the table, texting while driving, not wanting them to use or look at our phone, or taking it to bed, they will want to do the same. We must guide our children’s behavior through modeling self-control, having good manners, demonstrating safety, and openly sharing our phones.  Have you ever read a text while you were talking with your children?   If you and/or your teen spends more time with your phone than with each other, examine your household cell phone habits.  

What are some smart household guidelines families can follow?  

If participants have a hard time getting started, here are possible answers to suggest.

• Put your phone (and other distractions) away and LISTEN when your child(ren) are talking to you.
• Never text and drive.
• Make meal time important by eliminating distractions (such as phones or television) unless there is an emergency.
• Plug your phone into the central plug spot just like everyone else.
• Think twice before using your phone to text or call when angry or upset.
• Readily share your phone with your family, showing you have nothing to hide.
• Monitor the forwards, signature lines, and content of messages you receive and establish your boundaries with your contacts.
• Demonstrate thoughtfulness in texting, talking, ring tones, etc especially in public.
• Model good choices about who you give your number to or who you put in your contacts.  

Elicit ideas from participants to be shared via an open response poll in Poll Everywhere or Wiffiti.  

Ask participants to discuss and share how they might do this sort of activity with their family.  

00:35

Ideas for Using Cell Phones with Children

There are many ways to use cell phones with your children.  Ask participants to share some of theirs via a free response poll.  As answers come up ask participants to share one idea (not their own) that they have or will try and explain how they plan to do so.

You might want to start the conversation with an idea or two below and/or contribute some of the following if your audience has not come up with them on their own.

• As a family put your activities, appointments, trips, etc into your phone calendars together.  
• Ask about school assignments, things to remember to take to school, changes in the schedule. Add reminders in your phone too.
• Rely on the alarms, reminders, calculators, and cameras and share them with each other.  
• Verify location of your children with pictures or videos.
• Establish private check-in times.  
  Texting your child when they would be too embarrassed to call enables you to stay in touch. Your child’s friends don’t have to know who they are sending texts to or who they are receiving texts from. They text constantly anyway, even when they are together, so it’s no big deal for them to slip in a text to Mom or Dad. The privacy factor works in your favor.

Parents can share ideas via free response using a service like a Wiffiti board or Poll Everywhere open response.

Offer (or invite a parent)  to demonstrate any of the ideas they may want to know more about.  

00:50

The Benefits

Enjoy the benefits.  Being able to contact your children on the go, wherever they are is an asset.  Discuss the benefits which might include the following.

• Increase communication.
• Students can text to you privately.

• You will always know your child is safe when they use phones to stay in touch.  
• Provides a wonderful connection.

Have parents discuss some of the benefits provided by using cell phones with children.  

00:55

What have/can your children teach you?

Learn from you child(ren).  If you do not know how to do something on your phone, ask your child(ren).  More than likely he/she will know of be able to figure it out very quickly.  This gives them the opportunity to be the expert.

What have we learned from our children when using cell phones?

Have participants share/demonstrate via discussion.

00:65

Educational Support

Harness the power of cell phones for learning.  Model best practices for and with your child(ren) and their teachers.  Here are some ideas.

• Use cell phones as a learning resource.  Use the calculator, stopwatch, calendar, reminders, notes for educational uses together.  
• Team up with teachers.  By exchanging cell phone numbers, a quick and easy text will provide helpful information for both.
• Text experts when stuck on homework.  Use sources you know or free services like ChaCha or GoogleSMS.
• Send encouragement and support texts on test days, before games, when you can’t make the event.
• Phone a friend.  Encourage your student to use other adults, friends, or older students to get help with homework, research, or information.
• Set up group texting for cooperative learning, study tips, parent groups, and homework help.
• Help test prep. Text weekly questions from sample tests or chapter/unit tests using chapter reviews. Simply text the questions to your child and have them answer. Switch it up and let the child text you the question and check your answer. This can happen on the go or at home.  Make it fun and encourage your child to do this with friends.
• Support your school/teacher when cell phones are used for homework or at school for learning!

Consider inviting a  teacher(s) come to share ways s/he would like to use cell phones to improve the home-school connection and get feedback from parents.

Consider demonstrating some of the ideas that parents enjoy the most.

Ask parents to share ways they have or would like to use cell phones to support their child(ren) educationally.

Invite parents to exchange numbers to engage in some of the activities. They can set up group texting of their classmates parents.  

00:85

Questions, Comments, Discussion

00:90

Adjourn