As mentioned during the Town Council meeting Wednesday., Jan 19, 2022
Direct video link -> https://youtu.be/q8bXTNxtTiw
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
"Dozens of students appeared Monday night at Franklin High School for Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s discussion about “sexting.”
Sexting is becoming more prevalent and more damaging to underaged people, Polito emphasized.
But legislation filed by state Rep. Jeff Roy, D-Franklin, and Polito would help protect children from the harmful effects of the transmission of explicit images by modernizing the laws to reflect the realities of cyber-bullying.
Franklin police officer Paul Guarino has been working to mitigate the practice. He said during the discussion that about 80 percent of students have either sent or received nude photos of another student, many of whom are underage."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
I joined @jeffroy this evening in #Franklin to discuss the importance of our bipartisan, common sense legislation to update current laws and protect children from harmful visual material and cyber bullying.— Karyn Polito (@MassLtGov) April 29, 2019
It’s imperative that MA laws evolve with new technology. pic.twitter.com/0wtYPtHjbx
![]() |
Rep Jeff Roy, Lt Gov Karyn Polito at FHS on Monday to address teen sexting |
|
"Are you watching kids scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span? Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston saw that with her own kids and learned that the average kid spends 6.5 hours a day looking at screens. She wondered about the impact of all this time and about the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time—friction she knew all too well.
In SCREENAGERS, as with her award-winning documentaries on mental health, Delaney takes a deeply personal approach as she probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including her own, to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults canempower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance."
![]() |
Community entrance to FHS |
"The best way to protect your kids online? Talk to them. Research suggests that when children want important information, most rely on their parents."http://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0006-talk-your-kids
net cetera - chatting with kids about being online |
"Let’s set the record straight. Playing Lumosity’s games might make you better at those games, the FTC says, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will sharpen your memory or brain power in the real-world. And those testimonials from satisfied customers? Many were from people who were offered prizes to say good things about Lumosity, and that wasn’t made clear. According to the FTC, that’s deceptive."
![]() |
BFCCPS sign |
The MARC Parent and community education evenings feature presentations that are more tailored to the individual needs and wants of the community. The presentation involves both an easy-to-understand update on typical online activities of children, internet safety (including cyberbullying), and how parents can work with their children and their schools in both bullying and cyberbullying situations.
The emphasis will be on practical, concrete knowledge, and how parents do not need to be computer experts to become more aware of how to help their children navigate the online world safely. It is also imperative that parents understand how to approach schools for help effectively and how to assist school administrators in resolving bullying situations.
| |||||||
|
While the foundation sponsors surveys every two years among the region's middle and high schools, it had never before asked its consultant to look at overlap between categories - in this case students who reported mental health problems and those who identified themselves as bullying victims.
The prompt, Donham said, is a lingering perception among some parents - and even a few teachers - that bullying is something students usually work their way through, more an obnoxious rite of childhood than a serious danger.
There have also been questions about why the foundation is treating bullying as a health issue deserving grant money, and questions about whether bullying is a classroom issue when much of the harassment takes place off school grounds.
But the data show a clear picture of mental health harm likely to impede learning, harm that includes stress, symptoms of depression, self-injury, serious consideration of suicide - and even attempted suicide, among roughly 578 students.
"I think that's alarming," Donham said of the suicide numbers. "I think that warrants some looking at."
Sharply contrasting findings, from a Globe survey of the state’s 10 largest school systems, casts light on a lingering controversy over the Massachusetts law: What, if anything, should schools report about bullying among their students to authorities at the district or state level?
Read more at the Boston Globe.
One item that was not written in the article was that Parry Aftab presented the kids with the "Teenangel Chapter of the Year" award at the hearing in front of Attorney General Coakley. The kids are soo excited. This was the first time in 6 years that this award has been given to a chapter other than the New Rochelle, NY chapter.
Cyberbullying: “a situation when a child, tween or teen is repeatedly ‘tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted’ by another child or teenager using text messaging, email, instant messaging or any other type of digital technology.” (source: StopCyberbullying.org)You can find all of part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here.