Written By: Emily Marotta
Teenagers spend nearly 7.5 hours on their phones a day (Jacobo, 2019). They shouldn’t mind spending a little more screen time at our after-school program, right? At the beginning of this CASE term, as I prepared to engage our students online, I wasn’t so sure. How would we keep things entertaining? How would students be able to build a personal connection through a screen? What would we have to give that’s more enticing than the offerings of social media giants?
As I observed our students, I was reminded that though youth are on their phones and online, they still need personal relationships. I saw that students were showing up to participate in our online programming, but turning off their webcams. We’d hear excuses like: “It’s a bad hair day,” or “there’s a lot of people around me right now,” and “I just really don’t want to.” Although this generation is used to screen time, they are not used to face-to-face screen time with others, especially those they don’t know. These types of online venues were uncomfortable for them.
Yet, no matter how uncomfortable, they still showed up. There was something they were getting at CASE that they weren't getting during other hours on the screen and browsing social media. To me it became clear: They wanted to be social. Like, actually social, where they could build friendships, and make themselves vulnerable. Where their presence mattered and they couldn’t hide. There was a sense of social normalcy that they could experience at CASE.
Students are used to roaming the hallways between classes and getting a chance to debrief and catch up with their friends. In online school, they don’t have that opportunity just to breathe and relax. Instead, they are moving from one zoom link to the next and trying to hold onto all of the information they are receiving. Our students look for conversation, for real friendships, and we want CASE to be a place where they can find them.
As we recognized the needs of our students, we made it our goal to meet them; to create fun and interactive opportunities for them to build friendships, and to help them find their voice in this virtual venue! After implementing SEL (Social Emotional Learning) activities and providing them with opportunities to engage each other through competitive and collaborative games, we began to see relationships develop and others continue to grow. The most growth in these relationships happens, in my opinion, in the moments where students get to have conversations and be themselves.
As we encouraged interaction between students, the cameras turned on. And we got to see the faces of these precious youth. I’m so glad that the CASE staff can support these kids as they navigate times of diminished social venues, where they can make friends online, be equipped with skills and grow up knowing how to be a friend and receive friendship. We at CASE are recognizing that our online program is more important than ever before, and we are ready to meet the needs of our students!
For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. -1 John 4:20
Sources: Jacobo, Julia. 2019. “Teens Spend More Than 7 Hours on a Screen for Entertainment.” ABC News. ABC News Network. October 29.
CASE is a program of the Nashville After Zone Alliance. The Nashville After Zone Alliance is a network of coordinated after school programming for Metro’s middle-school students. NAZA is a partnership among the Nashville Public Library, MNPS, and other existing youth-serving groups. It is modeled on successful efforts in other cities and is organized around geographically-defined zones.
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