
Extending Empowered Use Beyond School
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📓 Connecting School and Home Values If you were able to attend Back to School Night, you heard about our academic expectations and learning environments. An important part of that environment is our Empowered Use Policy, which guides how students approach technology at Brookwood.
Our policy asks students to be empowered problem solvers, careful and gentle with technology, nice and courteous online, smart and safe in their choices, and upstanders and leaders in digital spaces. These principles can powerfully support learning and character development at home as well.
🏡 Empowered Problem Solving at Home We encourage students to "use computer technology to get things done and solve the world's problems! Create something awesome and inspiring!" At home, this means helping children see technology as a tool for creation, learning, and meaningful contribution rather than just consumption.
When your child reaches for a device, occasionally ask: "What are you hoping to accomplish?" or "How might you create something with this technology?"
🚸 Being Smart, Safe, and Courteous Our policy asks students to use technology "in ways that you would be proud to show your family and teachers" and to "be nice and courteous" in digital interactions. These principles translate directly to family technology use—choices that align with your values and treat others with respect online.
We also encourage students to "be an upstander and leader" when they encounter problems online, and to recognize that "technology tools such as texting, social networks, or emails are very poor tools to help you solve emotional problems."
🔁 Building Consistency When school and home share similar approaches to technology, students develop more consistent habits and clearer decision-making frameworks. Consider discussing how these Empowered Use principles might guide technology choices in your family setting.
The goal is helping students internalize these values so they can make empowered, ethical technology choices whether they're at school, at home, or anywhere else in their digital lives.
🔜 Coming Next Week We'll explore how Brookwood approaches artificial intelligence in our curriculum and learning environments, and what families should know about AI's role in their child's education.
📖 What I'm Reading "The Right to Oblivion" explores themes around digital memory, privacy, and our relationship with permanent online records. As families navigate questions about digital footprints and online presence, the book's examination of forgetting as a fundamental human right offers valuable perspective on how we might approach digital permanence with our children.
-David Saunders
Director of Leadership, Changemaking, & Technology