Helping Families Navigate Digital Life - Burnaby Schools - School District 41, Burnaby, BC, Canada

As part of a strategy launched earlier this year supporting students with digital skills and wellness, the District held four information evenings for families.

More than 350 people came to the in-person sessions to ask questions and learn about ways to help their children at home with navigating technology safely, respectfully, and in a useful way.

The evenings were focused on practical ways for parents and caregivers to support their children with:

healthy use of technology, including social connections
safe practices
developing balance

Hundreds more parents expressed interest in the content but were unable to attend. In support of further information sharing, the District Principal of Education Technology, Lucky Saini, and the Director of Instruction responsible for Safe and Caring Schools, Nick Christofides, created a recording highlighting key information from their presentations.

Click on the video below to watch it and scroll down for additional information.

At the start of the 2023-24 school year, the District launched a strategy in support of digital wellness, digital literacy, and digital citizenship. That foundation gives students the tools to both make technology work for them and make good decisions while they’re using it – whether that’s cell phones, artificial intelligence, social media or more.

In addition to the parent information evenings referenced above, other components included an awareness campaign, a focus on students’ skills in the classroom – including resources, lesson plans and professional development for teachers – and a new site of curated resources for families with tools, such as how to make a media usage plan to balance screen time, and information that demystifies social media platforms used by youth.