1. A Digital Wellness Curriculum: How to Navigate The Challenges of Digital World For Parents and Educators By Keegan Lee
This digital wellness curriculum written especially for parents and educators to help their children and students navigate the challenges of our digital world through knowledge, activities, and applicable information. This curriculum is unique in that it is designed and taught by Keegan Lee, who is a member of generation Z – the first generation to be born into a world of social media. The hope is that through the first-hand perspective of a member of Gen Z, Keegan can help minimize the digital divide to create the foundation for powerful intergenerational change.
Why did I create this course? More specifically, why did I want to target parents and educators? Well, you are the individuals that are teaching and raising the next generations. You have more power than you think in creating a digitally safe environment that can affect children’s perception of themselves and the world on a longitudinal scale. Obtaining a healthy relationship with technology starts young; in the household. There is no law as to when a child receives a phone. Thus, parents decide when and how a child learns to navigate the challenges of our growing digital world.
Digital literacy is becoming aware and understanding how to navigate and evaluate information online by questioning the information’s reliability and integrity. However, digital wellness is the ability to maintain a healthy and responsible relationship with technology to protect our mental health, connection with others, and true perception of the world.
Parents and educators are an incredible agents of socialization that cultivate knowledge in several different disciplines; not just intelligence. Social, emotional, and self-management skills are developed in the classroom and at home. Teachers and parents have the gift of observing these artforms throughout child development. However, in order to protect the fabric from which society functions, we need to reclaim conversation. We need our youth to sustain their most essential forms of connection: eye contact, authentic communication, body language, physical touch, empathy, and so much more. As digital devices become more accessible to our youth, it is vital that parents, guardians, and educators take the time to understand how we can maintain positive mental health and our most primitive means of human connection.