Freshmen learned about the importance of online safety and digital citizenship presented by the Director of Learning Diane Main in the Nichols auditorium on Thursday.

Main touched upon many topics in her speech such as cyber bullying, sexting, social media, plagiarism and time management. She gave advice to the freshmen on how to balance a rigorous academic life while still enjoying the pleasures of social media.

At the beginning of the assembly, Main expressed that sometimes students in their early teen years make poor choices, such as cyber bullying.

“Think before you send or say something,” She said. “Is it true? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind?”

She also explained how the number of teens who sext is getting higher and higher each year, adding to the mistakes that some teenagers make.

“You should never send a picture of yourself in a compromising position to anybody,” Main said. “It will likely be something that you will regret in the future.”

Periodically, Main would ask questions to the students in the audience. Although there was minimal participation, a few students answered questions.

One of the questions that she asked was about limiting distractions, and trying to avoid temptations from social media.

“I want to stay away from my siblings while working, Tyerinn Pollard (9) said. “They always tell me to check my phone to see something cool on social media, and then I get distracted for a while.”

Further explaining the do’s and don’ts of excessive social media distractions, Main said that you must limit screen time while completing school work, unless it is vital to whatever you are doing. For instance, turning off one’s phone is more effective than silencing it, to avoid the temptation of checking notifications. Same for a computer, if it is not in use, it should be shut off.

Also, she shared words regarding screen time.

“There should be at least one hour between screentime and sleep,” Main said. “This tells your mind that it’s time to sleep, and gives your eyes a rest.”