Teacher Margaret's "View From My Window" - November 10th

Dear Families, 

Together we will help our children become savvy consumers and creators of content in their digital world. TikTok has been in the news twice this week with concerning reports in Forbes and 60 Minutes. The 60 Minutes report was part of a larger story “Social Media and Political Polarization. The 60 Minutes story reminded me that in China, TikTok puts in all sorts of default controls to limit children to 40 minutes of time on the app in any 24 hour period, algorithms that push them to scientific, historic, and artistic content, and delays in loading videos to decrease the addictive nature of the app. In the US, parents have to choose to set similar limits in place. While parents can screen out some content, they cannot choose to have the algorithms privilege one sort of content over the other. Common Sense Media is an excellent independent resource for parents and educators trying to navigate the constantly changing digital world.¹ It provides reviews of all sorts of apps, movies, and other digital content. It also provides advice and instructions on how to place limits within your children’s technology.

At Westfield, we want students to be talking to and engaged with each other in real, non-virtual time and space. This is one of the major reasons we do not allow children to have their smartphones out from when you drop them off at school until you pick them up. I encourage you and your family to talk through and agree on your values and limits. In my family, to this day with adult children, cell phones are not allowed when we sit down to a meal together. If we hear notifications come through or the phone ring, the expectation is that we will wait until we are all finished being together before responding. We have placed a high value on being fully present to each other during family meal time. You and your family will make the choices that are best for you. The point is to choose how you and your children interact with technology rather than allowing technology to choose for you.

We are immersed in our various November service projects. Today, during Buddies, children made center pieces for Cathedral Kitchen’s meal program. We are busy collecting cans for local food pantries and soon the car line bake sale will begin. 

In Meeting for Singing and Meeting for Worship our songs have focused on gratitude for friends, family and the natural world. I am grateful that each of you entrust your children with us.

Announcements:

• Giving Tuesday Class Challenge I will provide cake and ice cream for any grade in which 85% of the childrens’ households make a contribution to the Fund for Westfield on or before Giving Tuesday (November 29th). 
  • To make your contribution before Giving Tuesday towards your class goal, simply make a note with your contribution on this online Giving Form or send a check to the school.

Warmly,

Margaret

¹The first website that came up from my Google Search “TikTok parental controls'' is a non-profit called ConnectSafely.org. A quick read through of the leadership and “About Us” seemed fine. The organizations supporters include most of the major social networks like Meta, TikTok, Google, SnapChat, and Amazon. All are businesses who make money off of us viewing their content. The advice on the website isn’t bad, but there is an inherent conflict of interest to be aware of.