Bringing the Laptop Home

West Island School have put together a few pages that deal with common questions or problematic situations that parents may find themselves facing once their child brings their school laptop home for the first time.

Within the first week and preferably on the first evening take a few minutes to go through the following checklist with your child and their new laptop.

CHECKLIST

Research shows that ‘Rather than sliding into a moral vacuum when they go online, young people draw upon the same moral framework that shapes their offline engagements. This underlines the importance of parents continuing to have open and ongoing conversations with young people about their online activities that REITERATE THEIR FAMILY’S VALUES.’

Report published in February 2013 by the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre

• • Discuss as a family the use of the laptop and complete the family media agreement together

  • Review and sign the Schools Responsible Use Policy

  • Check the laptop for damage and significant scratches

  • Put in place a plan for file backup and storage. Google Drive is fantastic and free with your child's school account. We will provide further training on how best to use this for the students shortly. Alternatively, buy and learn how to use an external hard drive

  • Discuss how to manage passwords and security

  • Discuss how to balance the use of the laptop between work and play (for example, use it in a public space with focussed periods of work and agreed break times built in and times when the laptop is not used. Dr Rosenthal’s ‘tech breaks’ are a good model)

  • How will your child manage their digital presence, discuss with them how you manage yours (what sorts of content will/should be posted/shared etc).

  • Discuss guidelines and steps you will take as parents if expectations are not met. Establish these parameters early (if you leave the setting and enforcement of boundaries until later then you will find it much harder to establish - be very clear from the beginning about what behaviour is expected)

  • Establish appropriate network filters at home

  • Remain informed (check the network traffic at home (Fing) and discuss Rescue Time data regularly)

  • Ensure that your child has a range of interests, of which technology may be one. Actively encourage physical activity regularly

  • Your own use of technology will often be a model your child will take cues from. Consider things like ‘banning’ the use of all technology at meal times, for instance.