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'Active' social media use to be taught to Jersey's children

Schoolchildren from Year 4 to 13 are going to be learning about phones, social media and 'surviving the online world' in a talk organised by Jersey's government.

Parents and carers also have the chance to get involved with evening sessions, designed to give adults tips on how to support their children and learn things about their own habits.

It is part of the Children, Young People and Education Service's work to support the wellbeing and online safety of young islanders.

UK awareness campaigner Natasha Devon, who is visiting the island to lead the sessions, tells Channel 103 that, despite its benefits, we can't allow technology to dominate our lives:

"[Young people] need to be able to notice how much time is going past and put mechanisms in place so that it's not eating into the time that they would spend with their 3D hobbies and their friends and families face to face, doing their homework... you can't let it affect their grades."

In the talks, she will speak about how people should question the content on their 'feeds' and 'for you pages', and be critical about what they are digitally consuming.

"There are things to do that you can do to ensure that the content in your feed is helpful and helps you to be the sort of person that you would want to be, and practising information hygiene."

Natasha also believes parents can take away some of the information in the sessions for adults.

"We're all living through this technological revolution together, and that's what makes it quite difficult for a lot of parents.

"In times past, if your child had a problem, it was probably something that you'd experienced at their age and could relate to.

"When it comes to technology, we're grappling with the same things young people are."

Talks for adults will be held on:

  • 16 September at Jersey College for Girls from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm;
  • 17 September at Beaulieu Convent School from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm.

People unable to attend in person can join a online stream.

Details of how to attend can be found here. 

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