Recently, National PTA and Meta announced a new collaboration to empower parents and caregivers and give them easy access to practical resources, insights and guidance so they can confidently approach conversations within their families about age-appropriate online habits.
Research shows that family engagement in teens’ digital lives can help teens have positive experiences. However, parents have a lot on their plates, and it can be difficult for parents to know where to begin to build trust and open dialogue within their family.
Through this collaboration, National PTA and Meta are coming together to host Screen Smart workshops in cities across the country to provide hands-on education for parents and caregivers—including state, regional and local PTA leaders in each location—on how to use Teen Accounts on Instagram, Messenger and Facebook, as well as supervision features across apps from Meta and to facilitate open dialogue around the top questions parents have about screen time and devices. Attendees also hear from a range of academics and clinicians on ways to support their teens online.
“Families tell us that they need and want more information when it comes to devices, the internet, social media and screen time,” said National PTA President Yvonne Johnson. “We remain committed to bringing knowledge, tools and resources to help families navigate digital challenges together and thrive. Expanding our collaboration with Meta provides an opportunity to give parents and caregivers access to practical resources, expert insights and guidance so they can support healthy digital habits for their teens.”
PTA leaders have participated in Screen Smart events nationwide, including Colorado, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, North Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and California.
“We want to reassure parents that we’re on their side when it comes to providing them with simple ways to manage their teens’ online experiences,” said Meta’s Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis. “Meta has built more than 50 tools, features and resources for parents, and this collaboration with National PTA allows us to put more education in the hands of parents when they need it most so they can confidently navigate their teens’ online habits.”
The collaboration with Meta is part of PTA Connected, an initiative by National PTA which seeks to improve digital access and equity, digital safety and wellbeing, cybersecurity, and digital literacy for all children through tailored programs, dissemination of resources and tools and community conversations. Facebook was a founding sponsor of the initiative in 2018, and National PTA and Facebook hosted 200 Digital Families Community Events at schools across the country in the 2018-2019 school year. National PTA and Instagram also hosted community events and supported parents with the Parent’s Guide to Instagram.
“National PTA has been a partner to parents on digital parenting topics, exploring in-depth the issues that are on the minds of today’s families, and connecting them with tools, research and support. Our PTA Connected initiative is the foundation of our work in this area, through which we’re striving to help children act safely, responsibly and thoughtfully online,” said National PTA Executive Director Nathan R. Monell, CAE. “We are pleased to be collaborating with Meta in this effort as we know there is still so much work to do in this area.”