There's nothing new about students using cellphones and computers, but at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools this year, students will learn how to safely use that technology.
CTR Catholic is introducing #relationships in a digital age lessons to Grade 4 to 11 students this school year, which starts Aug. 29.
“We hear students talk about certain topics and cellphone use and screen-time came up as a concern in relations among students, especially in junior high,” said Cheryl Kuemper CTR Catholic director of curriculum and instruction. "We're looking at students' use of screen time and developing coping mechanisms so they can make responsible decisions about their own use, about how they are responding to social media — so they feel good about themselves."
These are lessons that have been two years in the making.
A high priority is getting students to do things the old-fashioned way— building relationships and face-to-face communication.
"We know that is critical to student development," Kuemper said. “In a school, building face-to-face contact — teaching kids to have those conversations, having that eye contact — is important to them and helping them be able to contribute to society.”
Another priority is student attention.
"It (screen time) is impacting how they are communicating, building relationships... there could be cyberbullying, sexting which may impact them,” Kuemper said. “We want to give them the tools so they can make good decisions."
She defines screen use as use of cellphones, television, gaming consoles tablets, computers and others. She added research has shown some teens are on screens for up to nine or 10 hours a night, which does not include schoolwork.
“That’s impacting their ability to sustain attention,” she said. “When we ask them to read for long periods of time, when we ask them to have focused conversations, we need to give them time to do that in school so they are building the skills necessary that screens might be impacting.”
Stacey MacNeil, a Religion teacher at the Grade 7-9 St. John Paul II Collegiate, helped create the lessons along with fellow teachers Rebecca D'Souza and Meaghan Zolpis.
“In 2005, you had very few kids with technology at JPII, now you have very few kids who don’t have the technology,” MacNeil said. “We want the lessons to be fun for the students. We did a pilot at JPII and one of the things the kids loved was the amount of discussion. They want to talk about these issues and they want to talk about these issues with their parents.”
She said research has shown students are more anxious, for such things as how many “likes” they get on a social media post.
“What we are really concerned about is what will this be like in 10 years,” MacNeil said. “That’s why (CTR Catholic superintendent of schools) Scott Morrison had the vision to do #Relationships in a Digital Age to make the students aware.”
She added there are parents who don’t want their child to have a cellphone at that age — and in no way is one needed to go to SJPII.
There are already rules in place to check cellphone use a the junior high school
“They can have their phones in their backpack, the students aren’t allowed to have their phones out between the first bell and the last bell,” she said. “If they have to use their phones to get hold of their parents, say at lunchtime, we ask that they step outside.”
If mom or dad need to get hold off their child, they are asked to call the school office.
#Relationships in a digital age doesn’t mean Okotoks separate school students will suddenly be using a slate, sponge and chalk or a slide rule for their lessons.
“We are not saying in any way that technology is bad — we know it is a useful tool,” Kuemper said. “We know that Skype and things like that can be used to build lasting relationships. We know some kids who might feel marginalized are making connections through online communities that they never have before.
“What we are saying is we want to give kids the tools so they are making responsible decisions…And I also think students will teach us a thing or two.”
Parents received regular emails with a different theme regarding technology use while the program was being planned.
Guidelines for cellphones in the classroom and how the lessons will be presented will be left to respective schools and teachers.
Grade 4 to 6 students will receive the lessons through regular classes, Grade 7-9 through Religion classes and high school in CALM.
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