Students participate in national symposium

The Lind-Ritzville Middle School Associated Student Body (ASB) officers had the unique opportunity of participating in a national symposium on March 8. The ASB officers completed a presentation about online dating and relationships, and spoke live during a webinar conference with a variety of other presenters.

The ASB officers were the only middle school participants that presented as part of the national symposium through Campus Outreach Services. The symposium is part of “Think Luv,” which informs students and adults about the risks of dating, drugs, and a variety of other issues youth encounter on a daily basis.

The Lind-Ritzville group had the opportunity to participate in the symposium after Katie Koestner spoke to the students about cyberbullying during an assembly in December. Koestner, a nationally recognized speaker, offered the ASB officers the opportunity to be a part of a movie, create a jingle or present in the symposium.

The ASB officers are Camden Smith, Claire Roettger, Kallie Harder, Peyton Curtis and Tessa Jantz. The group unanimously agreed to participate in the symposium because they believe cyber safety is something middle school students should learn more about.

School counselor Lindsey Ross and ASB advisor Shannon Davis worked with the students over a two-month period to help them prepare for the presentation that was broadcast to over 1,000 schools nationwide. Other presenters in the symposium included professors and students from Harvard, Stanford, University of Virginia and MIT.

“We have had so many issues come up this year surrounding cyber safety so the students really wanted to take an active leadership role and inform others about the dangers and benefits involved in online dating,” Ross said.

The work began with creating a Prezi, similar to PowerPoint, presentation that could be accessed online during the live presentation. The presentation titled “Are online teen relationships work the risk?” consisted of 27 slides discussing the positives and negatives about online dating.

“We came up with different scenarios of how people can meet online and if it actually can work or not,” Jantz explained.

Harder and Jantz composed a survey for students to complete regarding online relationships. The results were surprising for the ASB officers, but it also helped them realize the necessity for teaching fellow students about safety online.

The 65 students in the seventh and eighth grade at Lind-Ritzville Middle School filled out the survey. Sixty-one of the students said they had Internet at least every other day, 29 could access the Internet through a personal device at school and 23 had been repeatedly contacted by a stranger over the Internet. Eleven students said they had been in an online relationship before, and five had met the stranger in person, two without parent permission.

The results were eye opening for the ASB officers. The officers created the presentation with many realistic scenarios, but situations many had not considered before conducting research.

The group explained that a student could never really be sure who is contacting them over the Internet. Sometimes people may be who they say they are, and other times they could be lying.

“There are good things but it can be a very dangerous world if you’re not cautious,” Ross added.

The officers created three possible scenarios about online relationships, covering the positives and the negatives of a potential relationship. Each scenario provides background research about the type of relationship and facts regarding online relationships.

Perhaps the most surprising and terrifying statistic the students discovered was that in 2008, MySpace removed 90,000 sex offenders from its website. The students discussed how uncomfortable and scared that statistic made them, and hoped students would realize not everyone on the Internet is who they say they are.

The positives about online relationships from student surveys revolved around the opportunity to recreate yourself online and there is a chance to surround yourself with friends. It also provides students with someone to talk to and can be more honest because you don’t have to worry about being judged.

The ASB officers hope that the symposium helps fellow classmates and students realize the potential dangers of online dating. They recommend students take precautions, protect themselves by not divulging personal information and always be careful about what students post online.

“It’s exciting to show we can still do things even though we’re middle schoolers, and everybody else is older than us. We can still have a voice,” Harder said about the symposium.

To watch the ASB officers’ presentation, visit http://prezi.com/zpuobwytikng/online-teen-relationships/. For more information on Campus Outreach Services, visit http://campusoutreachservices.com/symposia/thinkluv/.