Positive Social

Does your school have issues with social media? Then check out our promotional video for our Positive Social sessions with students!

We can't underestimate just how important it is for us to receive support from the business community. Whether it's helping to fund our sessions in schools, providing resources or fundraising, we appreciate every penny that helps us achieve our objective of delivering sessions in every school in the UK. Year 7s get us for free and we'd love to continue to offer that, which is why support from businesses is so vital.

After all the publicity surrounding Channel 4's Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones, it was great to be back at West Park School in Derby helping to launch their new Social Ambassadors scheme. We believe education is better than a ban. Over the last three years we've been delivering sessions into West Park School and today they introduced the follow-up scheme where a group of Year 7s get together monthly to chat about social media. There were some interesting revelations - for example, of the ten Ambassadors there, the average time spent on their phones daily was 7.2 hours. One 12-year-old boy was on his device 18 hours a day during weekends... Our sessions are free for Year 7s (a low price for other year groups). There are so many more schools who could benefit - so let them know about us!

An essential read from Alexander Bell... Don't let social media and phones spoil your Christmas... 12 Ways at Christmas to Switch Off from Your Screens: https://lnkd.in/eZyJBzU9

He may not be the best at selfies but he runs fantastic Positive Social workshops! Dan Ortiz was one of our first deliverers - and has now run sessions for thousands of children across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Here he is getting ready to make his debut at Bluecoat Aspley Academy in Nottingham last week. Keep working on those selfies, Dan! (Perhaps he should get some tips from the Year 7 students?)

It's not just young teenagers who need to break free from social media addiction... The team at Derby College brought us in for 2.5 days with their Pathways students at Broomfield Hall. They could see how social media and mobile devices were having a negative impact on their young people and wanted to inspire them to change. And they WERE inspired. After hearing our deliverer Dan Ortiz speak, scores of them made commitments to change their behaviour on social media - perhaps ironically, sending their promises to themselves on WhatsApp! Last week, we were also with the Year 11s at Granville Academy. They particularly loved the opportunity to insult our deliverer, an exercise we use to illustrate how we can hide behind social media! cc Shane Bayliss

We'd been thinking about creating a social-media-free day for many years - but when we found out about the awesome techtimeout Tuesday created by Stephanie Henson, we thought let's join in with their fun instead! Try and get off your tech sometime today!

How does picking up your phone and going on social media make you feel? Do you experience a rush of dopamine to the brain? Doctors liken our addiction to social media as similar to that felt by crack cocaine addicts. We spoke about the big pull of social media during our two successful parents' sessions with techtimeout this week. More than 70 parents signed up to hear how they could help their children enjoy a healthier relationship with their phones. If you'd like to be alerted about our future sessions (which are free, by the way) then comment below.

There's less than a week left until our FREE Positive Social Zoom sessions for parents - showing you how you can help your children have a healthier relationship with social media. With social media being such a big part of their lives, how can you set appropriate boundaries that actually work? How can you foster an environment where your child feels comfortable sharing their social media experiences with you? If your child is already on social media – or will be soon – this session is for you. What we’ll cover: - How to create better conversations with your children about social media. - Setting boundaries that are practical for your family. - Practical technology tips for parents to help manage and support safe social media use. - Insights from research and science on social media's impact. - Personal actions you can take to positively influence your children's relationship with technology. Expect an interactive format with plenty of time for questions. We have two sessions running next Tuesday. Find out more at https://buff.ly/3CgFF5h

Who's in control – you or social media? Join our free Positive Social & techtimeout Parents' Sessions at lunchtime or in the evening and learn how to help your child make positive, informed choices on social media. The need for digital wellbeing in our increasingly connected world is greater than ever. In preparation for techtimeout Tuesday, the national digital wellbeing awareness day, we want to provide practical tools and resources to help you bring this conversation home. Digital wellbeing extends beyond the workplace and impacts our families too. With social media being such a big part of their lives, how can you set appropriate boundaries that actually work? How can you foster an environment where your child feels comfortable sharing their social media experiences with you? If your child is already on social media – or will be soon – this session is for you. What we’ll cover: - How to create better conversations with your children about social media. - Setting boundaries that are practical for your family. - Practical technology tips for parents to help manage and support safe social media use. - Insights from research and science on social media's impact. - Personal actions you can take to positively influence your children's relationship with technology. This events (12.45pm-1pm or 8pm-8.45pm) are free but any donations will be used to fund free social media awareness sessions in schools in the UK. Click the link on one of the events to sign up. This session is part of our lead-up to techtimeout Tuesday, the national digital wellbeing awareness day. On December 3rd, we encourage individuals, families, and workplaces to step away from their screens and reconnect in meaningful ways. Find out more about how you can get involved and make a difference at techtimeout.co.uk. "I’ve done this session. I highly recommend it. It’s led in a really accessible & informal style, so no need to know about social media to participate!" Katherine Coggan, parent. "It was really insightful and great to hear from parents weighing up similar dilemmas." Tracey Swift, parent. "The session was really good and will start conversations in lots of households. Well done for all you're doing - it will make a real difference." Matt Parfitt, parent.