Give families new strategies to navigate the ups and downs of raising children in the digital age.
Common Sense provides everything you need to host engaging workshops for parents and caregivers on key digital citizenship topics. Workshops are designed for middle and high schools (students age 11–18) and can be facilitated by a school staff member or family liaison. Each workshop gives families tips and tools for guiding their children through the next challenge, from the complexities of social media to encountering mean behavior online.
Choose a workshop below to see the facilitator's guides, activities, and more.
Dealing with Digital Drama
We've all seen it. Learn how drama escalates online, and help older kids and teens avoid and de-escalate mean or harmful online behavior.
In this workshop, parents and caregivers will learn to:
- Encourage older kids and teens to take a break—and a breath—before responding to online drama.
- Help kids avoid making drama worse.
- Assist kids in making a plan to have an in-person conversation.
- Use settings and in-app tools to try to stop online drama in its tracks.
Friendships and Boundaries
Communication is key. Reflect on text messaging, and learn new ways to help older kids and teens set boundaries.
In this workshop, parents and caregivers will learn to:
- Acknowledge how hard it can be to set limits with a friend.
- Encourage kids to seek out an in-person conversation when a friend pushes their limits.
- Help their kids adjust the phone's settings so notifications don't amp up the pressure.
- Offer to take the blame around setting boundaries so kids can save face with friends.
Who Are You on Social Media?
Social media can be complicated for all of us. Reflect on social media use, share experiences, and learn new ways to talk to older kids and teens about their online lives.
In this workshop, parents and caregivers will learn to:
- Approach their older kids and teens with empathy when talking about social media.
- Encourage kids to avoid comparing themselves to others through social media posts.
- Discuss how much effort perfect posting takes—and how it doesn't reflect real life.
- Remind kids to keep the focus of social media on fun with friends instead of likes and follows.
Who You’re Talking to Online
Make safety a priority. Learn to better understand older kids' and teens' online lives, and give them new strategies for supporting healthy online relationships.
In this workshop, parents and caregivers will learn to:
- Understand that a lot of an older kid's and teen's social life happens online.
- Discuss different kinds of online relationships with their kids.
- Help their kids recognize when something online makes them uncomfortable.
- Give their kids strategies for responding to uncomfortable situations online.