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Getting Started
Photo by Mikhail Nilov by Pexels
In the previous four modules, you have learned more about the media habits of young people aged 13-18 years, their media perception as well as the importance of media education, and the role of parents. In this module, we will show you how to pass on this knowledge to parents in a parents' evening.
Apart from some organisational tips, which were already part of the basic course 1 in detail, the focus of this module will be on structuring your content as well as exchange and communication with parents.
Learn More
We have presented the process mentioned here as an example and in detail in the document Parents' Evening on Children's Media Habits. Use this as a basis to develop your own content.
Start planning
Start with the organizational preparations for the parents' evening. Go back to the basic module Planning a Media Educational Parents' Evening to use the materials shown there. Also, use our planning sheet to prepare systematically
Find your topic
Use the steps shown in the chapter Conducting a Media Educational Parents' Evening:
- Think about the overall aim of your parents' evening.
- Derive the key points of your parents' evening from this objective.
- Choose two or three sub-issues to focus on during your parents' evening.
Inform parents about your parents' evening
Once you have found your topic for the parents' evening, booked and set a venue and a date, it is time to inform parents about your parents' evening. We have created a template for an invitation in our document section.
Finish your presentation
- Organize your topics in a meaningful way and prepare them visually. You are welcome to use the presentation template we have prepared.
- Put special focus on the introduction and conclusion.
- Give the parents a handout, an example can be found in the documents section.
Engage parents
In order to positively influence the atmosphere and cooperation at the parents' evening, it is advisable to start with an activity that loosens up the atmosphere. This is called an icebreaker. Icebreakers can be used to help the group get to know each other better, but also to explore the interest and expectations of the topic. The key to success is to make sure that the activity is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.
See the icebreaker examples on the Mindtools website. The suggestions for topic explorational icebreakers are well suited for thematic parents' evenings.
Involve parents actively in the evening through exercises and support them in questioning their own role and their child's media use. To do this, use the exercises and tips we have compiled for Media Parent Consultants at the end of each course.
Ask for feedback
Be sure to ask parents for feedback on your parents' evening. Use our feedback document as a basis.
Exercise
Plan a (fictitious) parents' evening on the topic of media use by young children. Use the guidelines of the document Parents Evening on Children's Media Habits and derive the content structure for your topic analogously.
Also, use the accompanying documents such as the planning sheet to plan your parents' evening.
What you learn in this course
- You will be able to name the structural and design elements of a parents' evening on this topic,
- You will be able to describe methods for conducting a parents' evening on this topic.
- You will be able to compile the topic and the methods of a (fictitious) parents' evening with the help of the knowledge from course 1 and course 2.
- You will be able to name the fields of application of the additional materials.
- You will be able to use the additional materials in a target-oriented way.
- You will be able to plan a (fictitious) parents' evening on the topic "Media habits of young people (13-18)" with the help of the planning sheet from course 1.
- You will be able to use additional materials.
Get ready: Tips for MediaParent consultants
Not sure how to involve parents during your lecture? You could do one of the following exercises that we introduced to you in the previous modules:
Exercise 1:
Encourage parents to:
- Make a list of pros and cons of children media use by children at this age
- Define criteria for suitable media for children at this age
- Go to the website www.commonsensemedia.org and give a specific example of suitable media for children in this age group (in each category)
Organize a debate session for parents. Divide parents into three groups:
- Affirmative group - make a list of benefits on the flipchart.
- Opposing group - make a list of risks and negative influences on the flipchart.
- Group judging the quality of the arguments and the performance in the debate- make a list of conclusions on how to support the positive outcomes and prevent the risks.
Remember to set aside time for debriefing and discussion at the end of the debate. See the link Conducting debate, which contains tips on conducting and organizing a debate.
Exercise 3:
Ask parents what devices and media platforms their children use independently. Visit the Parental Controls website on internetmatters.org. At the bottom of the page, you can find a dropdown menu for various types of media platforms. Choose some of the mentioned devices and platforms and introduce some of the possible ways of parental control and safety settings.
Let parents discuss:
- What types of parental control and safety settings do you use?
- What parental control settings options did you already not know about?
- Do you or someone you know have any experience with safety settings and parental control? What are they?
- How would you explain the importance of safety settings and parental control to your children?
- What are the pros and cons of employing parental control with older children and adolescents?
