WAKEFIELD — Executive Director Margie Daniels of the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) announces the details of an upcoming conference, Youth, Mental Health and Social Media: Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities.
This conference will feature medical, mental health and educational experts who will explore the relationship between students’ use of social media and smartphones and a rise in childhood anxiety and depression.
WHEN:
Tuesday, January 28
Registration: 8:15-8:45 a.m.
Conference: 8:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School, 250 Foundry St., Easton, MA 02375, or via Zoom
WHAT:
A hybrid conference — Youth, Mental Health and Social Media: Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities — will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School and via Zoom for those who wish to participate remotely. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Today’s children and adolescents spend more time on screens than in school. This conference will address whether students’ use of social media and smartphones is contributing to a rise in childhood mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. Presenters will discuss how students’ use of social media and smartphones affects children’s development, academic performance, and physical and mental health. Participants will learn positive strategies to optimize the positive use of social media and smartphones and to mitigate the negative effects.
At MPY’s hybrid conference, speakers include:
- Michael Rich, M.D., M.P.H., the Director and Founder of the Digital Wellness Lab; Co-Director and Founder of the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders (CIMAID); and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School
- Maddie Freeman, the Founder of No Social Media November (NoSo November)
- Kathleen Mackenzie, Ed.D., LICSW, CMHIMP, the Coordinator of Clinical and Behavioral Services for New Bedford Public Schools
- Susan Reynolds, M.Ed., the Founder of ABC Legacy: Atoms to Bits Children’s Legacy, which generated the Look Up Foundation
In-person registration for the event has closed, but virtual registration remains open on MPY’s website, mpyinc.org, until 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 27. To register for a webinar or conference, use the “Webinars & Conferences” tab at the top of the website, or click here to register for the Jan. 28 conference.
Every MPY conference is recorded and available to registered participants through a link that remains live for 10 days.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved Professional Development Points (PDPs) and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are offered at no additional cost to participants who attend this conference and who already attended the Jan. 14 conference, One Pill Can Kill (And Other Youth Substance Dangers).
About the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc.
Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides training, fosters collaboration and develops programming to increase the health and safety of students. MPY is committed to bringing cutting-edge information and high-quality trainings to constituents and endeavors to provide solution-oriented, community-based, multi-disciplinary approaches to reducing and ideally eliminating risky behaviors for youth. MPY programming reaches nearly 6,000 educators per year in Massachusetts, spread across approximately 300 districts, with more than 150 webinars and over a dozen conferences.
Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth is governed by a Board of Directors made up of school superintendents, police and fire chiefs, and other community leaders who work closely with MPY staff to deliver this mission. To learn more, visit: massachusettspartnershipsforyouth.com.
###