Freshmen attend LIFE assembly regarding digital citizenship

Diane+Main+presented+an+assembly+on+Digital+Citizenship+to+the+freshmen+today.+Students+can+email+her+for+further+information+regarding+this+topic.+

Nicole Chen

Diane Main presented an assembly on Digital Citizenship to the freshmen today. Students can email her for further information regarding this topic.

by Nicole Chen, Reporter

The freshman class attended a LIFE assembly titled “Your LIFE Online,” discussing digital citizenship today in the Nichols auditorium.

Upper school director of learning, innovation and design Diane Main led a discussion about one’s “digital footprint.” Main presented similar information to the junior class earlier this year as well, however, the presentation for the freshmen had slightly different topics and a different purpose.

“When I speak to ninth graders, I focus more on brain development and decision making and some of the different aspects of digital citizenship that sometimes teens find themselves in trouble with because of poor decision making and not being able to anticipate consequences,” Main said.

Main started the conversation with topics including impulsivity, time management, the gravity of a healthy sleep schedule and the effects of sleep debt and excessive screen time. She also explained the various parts of the brain and how they develop during one’s teenage years.

Upper school Business and Entrepreneurship teacher Chris Thompson attended the assembly and found it useful.

“I think it benefitted the freshmen since even as an adult, you never know that much about brain development so I think it’s important for teachers as well as students,” Thompson said.

Other topics that were discussed focused more on the benefits and dangers of the internet; this included cyber bullying, the digital community, one’s digital home, the everlasting effect of the internet, the power of certain sites and applications, anonymous discussion sites and plagiarism issues.

According to Main, this LIFE assembly gave students a chance to think about making ethical choices on the internet.

“I think was beneficial because a lot of us just got Facebooks and Instagrams and started using social media,” Neha Tallapragada (9) said. “It was good to introduce us to the digital world.”

Main sparked conversations throughout the presentation by allowing students to talk with each other about these issues in their own lives and help each other with solutions to those specific problems.

“It just gives everybody involved a chance to pause and think about topics that people sort of think of here and there that issues come up,” Main said. “We kind of break into groups, talk to people or even just [talk] for me to get feedback from the audience on how they think they’re doing with some of these things related to digital citizenship and what you have out there.”

Many students felt that the assembly triggered realizations about bad habits and helped to encourage making lifestyle changes.

“It was beneficial to everyone,” Harris Hosseini (9) said. “Even I think I need to get more sleep so I thought it was helpful.”

Main will be sending out the presentation to the freshmen for future reference. She also encourages anyone with questions to find her in her office in Main or emailing her at [email protected].