AKRON, Ohio — This Friday, Schumacher CLC Parent Teacher Association is hosting a free event for Akron elementary school parents and families to learn more about screen readiness, healthy digital habits and navigating technology with kids.
News 5 asked President Gynnise Gilbert-Mills why she felt it was important to have this conversation.
“Well, I’m a parent of an Akron student and I wasn’t raised the way I need to raise my kid now,” said Gilbert-Mills.
Due to growing digital and social media concerns, Gilbert-Mills said it’s important for her to do what she can to help parents.
This comes after she said she caught her son acting out what he saw on YouTube and then recording videos of himself.
“Luckily, my son is too young to understand how to upload things because if he did that would be another police situation,” said Gilbert-Mills.
But she said it sounded the alarm.
"I took his iPad away for six months because you’re not ready to have this,” she said. “In my mind, I wasn’t doing something right.”
Eventually, Gilbert-Mills said she was presented with an opportunity to bring this conversation to Akron, so she and the PTA’s Vice President, Jasmine Baker, applied for a grant through the National Parent Teacher Association.
Now, the local PTA is getting ready to host ‘Tech at the Table.’
While this is a one-day event, Chelsea Pisani wants parents to feel empowered to start having these important conversations.
“We want them to really see that they’re not alone,” said Pisani. “Certain parents have said, 'I felt like it was something I did wrong.' Well, no. If other people are having the same situation too, it’s more of like a bonding moment.”
News 5 asked if there were any specific events that had happened between Akron students that made them concerned.
“Yes. Here sometimes, we hear about students going back and forth on social media. They argue, they see stuff, they’re talking about people; bullying can happen. Anything can happen, so we want to try to get that under control,” said Baker. “Hopefully, parents take home the resources and maybe think about it more.”
Doors open at 5:45 p.m. this Friday at Schumacher CLC. Their address is 1020 Hartford Avenue.
There will be food from City Barbeque, giveaways and volunteers available to watch your child if needed.
Registration is strongly encouraged, and only Akron elementary school parents and caregivers are asked to attend.
