Groundwork Ohio Listening Tour

 

CLEVELAND—CUYAHOGA COUNTY Groundwork Ohio is going on the road! We’re holding community conversations throughout Ohio engaging families, early childhood professionals, maternal health experts, local government officials, and statewide policymakers about the challenges facing our state’s youngest.    Join us in Cleveland on Tuesday, June 18 as we hear from regional experts on the unique early childhood and maternal health challenges facing your community. Panelists and location info will be announced soon.  Save the date! What's working in your community? How can we make Ohio the best place to be a young child?    The conversations and learning compiled from this event will help inform our policy agenda for the Fiscal Year 26-27 Statewide Budget and enhance relationships with our local leaders.    Wondering who will be in the room?   Parents and caregivers, early childhood professionals, community leaders, advocates for children, business leaders, locally elected officials, local or state government employees, philanthropic leaders, and leaders for women's-focused organizations.   Not familiar with us?     Groundwork Ohio is a nonpartisan public-policy research and advocacy organization that champions high-quality early learning and healthy development strategies from the prenatal period to age 5, that lay a strong foundation for Ohio kids, families, and communities.   We advance quality early childhood systems in Ohio by engaging, educating, and mobilizing diverse stakeholders and strategic partners to promote data-driven and evidence-based early childhood policies.  Hope to see you soon!   Brittany Boulton Managing Director, Advocacy & Engagement Register for the Roadshow in Cleveland

 

Know! to Support Healthy Digital Well-being

Young people today are more digitally connected than any previous generation. Digital connection comes with many benefits – young people can easily stay up to date with weather and news, complete school assignments, discover new things, and connect with peers worldwide. In fact, moderate screen time may even enhance young people’s creativity and communication skills.1   However, we know that excessive screen time and access to certain content online can harm people of all ages. Building healthy technology habits and cultivating healthy digital well-being are more important than ever. Disconnecting from technology may be especially difficult for young people who have always had access to technology. As a caring adult, you can use your skills and experiences to help young people develop a relationship with technology that keeps them safe, healthy, and happy.1,2,3,4

What is digital well-being?

Digital well-being refers to the way we interact with the internet, social media, and technology. Our digital well-being includes how being online impacts our emotional, mental, physical, and social health. Healthy digital well-being occurs when using technology enhances our lives and contributes to our sense of fulfillment and safety. Unhealthy digital well-being occurs when the use of technology negatively impacts how we feel about ourselves and causes distraction or worry. Unhealthy digital well-being can contribute to isolation, anxiety, depression, and stress, while healthy digital well-being can create a sense of satisfaction with our lives.5

What can impact your digital well-being?

Online content Not all online content is appropriate for young people. Consuming violent, adult-oriented, or discriminatory content can decrease young people’s sense of safety, both online and in real life.5   Screen time Excessive use of technology and social media has been linked to mental health issues and feelings of loneliness among young people. Spending too much time online can also negatively impact schoolwork, sleep, and desire to participate in extracurricular or social activities.1,5   Digital drama Disagreements and breakups that occur online can be more complicated than those that happen in real life. Without body language and facial expressions, misunderstandings between friends are more frequent and can escalate more quickly. Additionally, social exclusion and bullying can intensify online and contribute to negative mental health outcomes for young people.5   Negative pressure Being active online can create pressure to receive many likes on a post, to look a certain way, or to have an ‘aesthetic’ lifestyle. The pressure to achieve an unattainable goal can decrease young people’s self-esteem and leave them feeling inadequate.5

What can caring adults do to improve digital well-being?

Help youth identify how their social media use makes them feel Ask the young people in your life how their use of social media affects their thoughts, feelings, and activities in real life. Help them to notice which aspects of technology make them feel happy and satisfied, and which ones leave them feeling upset or unsatisfied. Perhaps spending a lot of time on TikTok makes them feel unhappy with their body image, but spending time on Instagram inspires them because they get motivated to try a new hobby. When young people are able to recognize how their time online affects other aspects of their lives, they are better equipped to make changes to protect their mental health, like deleting an app or setting time limits on their usage.2,4,5   Work together to create a media usage plan Adults and young people often have different views when it comes to technology usage but can work together to make a plan that suits both of their needs. Creating a media usage plan involves reflecting on your relationship with technology and developing guidelines for how you want to use technology to achieve a safer, healthier relationship with it. You might consider a maximum screen time or device-free zones in your house. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a template that you can use to formulate your plan together.3,6   Start with small changes Changing your habits is difficult, and that difficulty extends to disconnecting from technology. Start small by taking 30 minutes to an hour each day to set aside as screen-free time. Young people might not know what to do during their screen-free time, so work with them to develop a list of alternative activities they can do instead of using their devices. The possibilities are endless – maybe they would enjoy painting, going on a nature walk, listening to music, playing a game, cooking a new recipe, or riding a bike. If they enjoy and are excited about the activity, making this small change should be much simpler than ditching their devices altogether.1,4,7   Model appropriate technology use Adults should set a positive example of technology use for the youth in their lives. Young people are watching and learning from you, so try to practice what you preach. If it’s important to you that your young person takes screen-time breaks or doesn’t use their device during dinner, use yourself as an example for them to follow. If you’ve created a media plan together, do your best to stick to it. Don’t be afraid to discuss the challenges you face and the successes you achieve with your youth. Be honest about how difficult it can be to unplug and remind them that you’re in it together when it comes to building healthy habits. You might even start to feel better about your relationship with technology along the way!1,3,4,6,7   Stay Informed Technology changes quickly and it can be tough to keep up with how young people are using technology. Take time to understand the apps your young person is using. Download them yourself and get a sense for what using them is like. Continue to check in with the young people in your life about their digital well-being. Remember that this isn’t a one-and-done conversation – you and your young person’s needs will change over time. Additionally, knowing where to go for help is important if a young person has experienced something upsetting or worrying online. See the list of resources below for more support and information.5,6

Resources

How to Handle Finding Disturbing Content on Your Teen's Phone (verywellfamily.com) Birth - Preschool - The Digital Wellness Lab AAP Media Plan (healthychildren.org) Inappropriate content on social media | NSPCC

Sources

1. Digital Detox for Kids: How to Help Them Unplug | Time To Log Off (itstimetologoff.com) 2. Healthy Social Media Habits | NIH News in Health 3. Helping Teens Build Healthy Social Media Habits - Mental Health First Aid 4. Supporting Digital Wellbeing: 8 Ways to Help Teens Unplug from Technology - Boys & Girls Clubs of America (bgca.org) 5. Digital wellbeing | Childnet 6. Tips for Healthy Social Media Use: For Parents and Teens | University of Utah Health 7. Ask an Expert: Four Ways to Help Your Kids Unplug | USU

We can all help prevent suicide. The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. For more information, click here.

This message is sent on behalf of National PTA President Yvonne Johnson

 

April PTA Perspective 

 

Spring is finally here! I love it when the flowers and trees bloom in my garden. You may not know this about me, but I love to garden. It is therapeutic for me. I enjoy digging in the dirt, mulching and planting flowers and veggies. I think it’s because the start of a new season with fresh and vibrant colors all around signals that summer will be here soon, and I cannot wait to sit at the pool with a book.  

 

The evolution of our outdoor world is much like our PTA legacy. We watch our up-and-coming leaders evolve with the seasons and grow into our next generation of PTA leaders.  

 

As the largest volunteer child advocacy association, we have been the conscience of the nation to better the lives of all children in America for over 127 years. We are proud of our extensive legacy and impact, but there’s still so much work to be done.  

 

PTA dues are some of the lowest in comparison to other national associations, and we have not increased our dues rate in 13 years. The truth is that today, it costs more to meet the unique needs of children and families in our school communities across the nation. To keep our great association thriving to support the next generation, we must invest in our mission. This is why our National PTA Board of Directors is proposing a $1.00 dues increase to be debated and voted on by members of the voting body during our upcoming virtual convention June 27-29, 2024. 

  

We want to provide an open conversation on this issue and as such, we will be launching PTA.org/DuesIncrease on April 8, where you will find what the proposed dues rate will do for all PTAs; how the portion of membership dues sent to National PTA is used to support our mission and leaders; and FAQs. Please direct any questions about the dues increase to ProposedDuesRate@PTA.org and I will personally respond. 

 

As I have promised in these monthly briefings, I will focus on three key things: P-T-A—Programs, Training and Advocacy.   

 

PROGRAMS 

 

Five Years of PTA Connected! Our association remains committed to bringing knowledge, tools and resources into the lives of families to support their health, safety, well-being and success. This year marks the fifth anniversary of our PTA Connected initiative. PTA Connected has allowed us to specifically help thousands of families navigate the digital world by providing tangible tools to have proactive, open and ongoing conversations with children about building good digital habits. Check out our resources at PTA.org/Connected and see what volunteers and parents from Highland Creek Elementary PTA in North Carolina had to say about our PTA Connected: The Smart Talk program, sponsored by Norton (part of Gen). 

·       “This program provided an opportunity for our community to come together and unveil a need to discuss the importance of having the important conversation around technology use. This was a time for shared experiences, ideas, as well as additional resources, that might not have otherwise been shared.” —Program Leader 

·       "This was great. We are dealing with technology misuse in our family, and this gave us a way to start the conversation." —Participating Parent 

 

TRAINING 

 

Next Professional Development Institute. After the tremendous success of our first Professional Development Institute, we are excited to host our second one this Saturday, April 6. The first session will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT and will cover parliamentarian procedures (Robert’s Rules of Order) and creating effective bylaws for your association. The second session will be 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT and will cover how to write and implement a strategic plan. This training is designed for all state leaders. We are thrilled to bring networking sessions that come from topics you, our leaders, have requested. I look forward to seeing you all there.  

 

Learn How to Develop a DIO Plan. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 22, 7-8 p.m. EDT to attend a webinar presented by the National PTA Field Service and Diversity, Inclusion and Outreach (DIO) Committees on how to create a DIO plan and stay in compliance with the National PTA Standards of Affiliation. I encourage all state presidents, state presidents-elect and anyone at the state level working on DIO to attend and learn how to develop an effective state DIO plan. Look for more information to come soon. 

 

ADVOCACY 

 

LegCon 2024 Wrap Up. LegCon was amazing! It was full of timely workshops, thoughtful speakers, important visits with members of Congress and so much more. We were incredibly humbled and honored to have First Lady Dr. Jill Biden join us and speak about the gun violence epidemic in our country. It was truly wonderful to be together in person and advocate for all children in the nation. If you have not submitted all of your Congressional meeting report forms, please submit them as soon as possible so our staff can address questions or concerns you may have. And to help make future LegCons even better, we ask that you take a moment to complete this survey, then share the link with members of your state delegation. We want to make sure future planning includes your feedback! 

 

And, we must always remember membership is everyone’s responsibility… 

 

It’s time to start thinking about getting our PTAs ready to hit the ground running next fiscal year and part of that is supplying membership cards. If you need membership card templates for next year (2024-2025), please complete this quick two-minute survey no later than Monday, April 15 so we can provide the membership card templates that work best for your state PTA. 

2024 National PTA Proposed Dues Increase

Dear Valuable PTA Member,

As the largest volunteer child advocacy association, we have been the conscience of the nation to better the lives of all children in America for over 127 years.

To keep our great association thriving to support the next generation, we must invest in our future. This is why our National PTA Board of Directors is proposing a $1.00 dues increase to be debated and voted on by members of the voting body during our upcoming virtual 2024 Convention June 27-29.

 As proud as we are of our extensive legacy and impact, there’s still so much work to be done. As you may know, PTA dues are also some of the lowest in comparison to other national associations, and we have not increased our dues rate in 13 years. The truth is that today, it costs more to meet the unique needs of children and families in our school communities across the nation.

We want to provide an open conversation on this issue and as such, we will launch

PTA.org/DuesIncrease on April 8. On this webpage, you will find:

 

• What the proposed dues rate will do for all PTAs
• How the portion of membership dues sent to National PTA is used to support our mission and leaders
• A living FAQs document

National leadership will also provide briefings on the proposed dues rate increase in our monthly state president and state president-elect calls. The first briefing will be the April 8 state presidents’ call.

Thank you for your commitment and passion that keeps our mission alive. We need your leadership and support to keep building on our mission and to use our collective

voices so our children can continue to thrive as they learn and grow.

 

For questions, email me at ProposedDuesRate@PTA.org and I will personally respond!

Respectfully,

 

Yvonne Johnson

National PTA President

yjohnson@pta.org

302-753-7107

www.pta.org