Pennridge schedules iSmart caregivers session on online safety, sexploitation for parents

Mister Johnson, representing district outreach, briefed the committee on an iSmart Caregivers presentation to be held next Tuesday evening in the district’s Large Group Instruction (LGI) space. The program, he said, is a partnership between NOVA — described as a comprehensive victim services agency in Bucks County — and a Bucks County detective identified as Dante.

Johnson said the program grew from questions raised after a September district session on mental health and that it will focus on strategies parents can use to promote safer social media use rather than simply removing devices. "The focus of it will be on strategies for parents, not to necessarily take away social media from kids, but to help them exercise good judgment when using social media," Johnson said.

Johnson told the group the presentation will include statistics on social media use since COVID-19, which he summarized as a roughly 17% increase among children ages 6–17, and that the detective will discuss county-level statistics and how they compare with state and national trends. He also said the program will address an "emerging issue" of sexploitation affecting youths in Bucks County and elsewhere.

Board members asked whether the district has provided similar presentations to students; Johnson and other presenters said middle-school students have already received targeted presentations involving school counselors and local law enforcement. Several board members and administrators endorsed making the session an annual offering and discussed the possibility of adapting portions for student assemblies or further parent-teacher programming.

No formal board action was recorded; the item on the agenda was a program promotion and planning update.