Educational Resources

Purpose

Why design a digital wellness curriculum for parents and educators? Because you are the individuals raising and teaching future generations. You have more influence than you think in creating a digitally safe environment. One that affects children’s self-perception and the world on a longitudinal scale. Developing a healthy relationship with technology starts at a young age at home. There is no law as to when a child receives a phone or tablet. Parents decide when and how a child learns to navigate the challenges of our evolving digital world.

Digital literacy is about gaining awareness and understanding how to navigate and evaluate information online. But digital wellness goes beyond that. It is about maintaining a healthy and responsible relationship with technology, which is crucial for protecting our mental health, our connections with others and our true perception of the world.

Parents and educators are incredible agents of socialization that cultivate knowledge in a variety of disciplines, not just intelligence. Social, emotional, and self-management skills are developed at home and in the academic environment. Parents and educators are responsible for nurturing these important life skills throughout child development.

To protect the fabric from upon which society functions, we must reclaim the art of engaging conversation. Our youth must learn how to sustain their most essential forms of interpersonal connection: eye contact, authentic communication, body language, physical touch, empathy and so much more. As digital devices become more accessible to our youth, parents, guardians, and educators must make the time to understand how we maintain positive mental health and our most essential means of human connection.