Smart Talk

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The Smart Talk

Get proactive by hosting a Smart Talk Conversation at your PTA. This program provides your PTA with resources to foster an interactive online safety conversation that ends with families completing their own Smart Talk at home. Your PTA can help families discuss: 

  • How to determine who should “friend” or “follow” your account?
  • When to share photos or videos online?
  • How to respond to negative comments or posts on social media?
  • Whether to use location-based services on apps?
  • How much screen time is appropriate?

The Smart Talk

Digital Safety Ground Rules

The Smart Talk We heard from parents and PTA leaders across the country that they wanted to be able to connect as a family online safely. National PTA’s solution to help families with digital safety was born: The Smart Talk.

The Smart Talk is an interactive online tool, that walks families through a series of guided questions to establish a digital safety conversation, which then creates a personalized agreement based on your answers. Once your agreement is complete, you can print it off, sign it, and hang it on the fridge so everyone remembers the ground rules.

Hear How Parents Use The Smart Talk



Host a Smart Talk Conversation

Your PTA will provide families with the opportunity to hear from a speaker or student panel and then dive into a group discussion on family apps, technology use or cyberbullying. Families will then be informed about how to complete The Smart Talk online on their own after the event.

PTA Connected Smart Talk Program at Home Toolkit

 

PTAs can host a successful Smart Talk program at home using the following toolkit, which includes helpful how-to documents and sample templates.

As part of the PTA Programs at Home initiative, your PTA has the option to determine which model you want to use to best engage your school community: Real-Time or At Your Own Pace.

Choosing Your Program Model

Real-Time Program Model


Planning

Planning Resources

Promoting

Promoting Resources

Hosting

Hosting Resources

Wrap-Up

Wrap-Up Resources

At Your Own Pace Program Model


Planning

Planning Resources

Promoting

Promoting Resources

Hosting

Hosting Resources

Wrap-Up

Wrap-Up Resources



In-Person Smart Talk Conversation Toolkit

 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Smart Talk Conversation Toolkit helped PTAs facilitate in-person gatherings. We are preserving this toolkit below, and we hope to resume use of it when the Center for Disease Control advises that conditions are safe for group gatherings to resume.

In-Person Toolkit

Use the resources below to plan and host a Smart Talk Conversation Event with parents and students at your local school. At the Smart Talk Conversation event, you will host a 15-20 minute presentation with the help of a digital safety expert, school technology officer or similar speaker to give a family-appropriate presentation on digital safety that encourages students to participate with their parents.

The rest of the event time will be used to walk through the Smart Talk with your families so that they can complete it together at home.

STEP 1: Planning
STEP 2: Promoting
STEP 3: Hosting
STEP 4: Wrap Up

Host a Smart Talk Conversation



Smart Talk Sign at School

Smart Talk Presentation



Smart Talk event programming is a part of the PTA Connected initiative made possible with the support of Presenting and Founding Sponsorship of NortonLifeLock and Proud National Sponsor TikTok.

For information on social video sharing, please visit Social Video & Teens.

NortonLifelock