Our Goals For The New School Year

A couple of weeks ago, students in Palm Beach County went back to school for another year of learning and growth. Soon, Youth Speak Out International will return to afterschool programs to teach elementary school and middle school students how to be better digital citizens. In today’s quickly evolving digital society, these lessons are more important than ever before. 

A recent study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows the serious consequences of cyberbullying. Young people are spending more time on technology than ever before, and while these digital spaces can be great tools for connection, they can also become dark corners for vulnerable students. One of our goals for this school year is to equip our students with the tools to recognize cyberbullying and do something about it, whether it’s happening to them or someone else. 

The problems facing our society have also highlighted the serious threat of misinformation and disinformation. More and more people are getting their news from social media, and the tools to create false narratives on these platforms have gotten more sophisticated. Another goal we have this year is to teach students how to recognize false information online and give them the tools to find reliable sources.

Perhaps most importantly, we hope that our programming will empower students in their digital citizenship journey. We want this to be something that sticks with them beyond our program. Technology isn’t going anywhere; so let’s give our children the tools that they need to build healthy and successful lives. 

We look forward to reconnecting with students as we head into a new school year, full of new possibilities. We hope that your start of the new school year is meaningful and empowering. 

You can learn more about our Today’s Digital Citizenship program here.