Mrs. Hamrick’s Counselor Corner

• Parents’ Guide to Teen Social Networking Chat Transcript:  Does your child have a Facebook or MySpace account? Does he or she text constantly? These methods of social networking sites are increasingly becoming one of the primary ways our kids are communicating with one another these days.  With all the talk of online predators and cyberbullying, how can parents help kids keep the Internet a constructive and safe place? Read a recent chat session with Anne Collier and Larry Magid, co-authors of MySpace Unraveled: A Parents’ Guide to Teen Social Networking and co-directors of ConnectSafely, regarding any issues or concerns pertaining to your teenagers and their online social lives.

• Internet Safety Technical Task Force The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University today released the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a group of 29 leading Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that joined together for a year-long investigation of tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth. The Task Force was created in February 2008 in accordance with the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace. The report was delivered to the 52 Attorneys General in December, 2008.  To read the final report, including the executive summary, as well as reaction statements from members of the Task Force, visit: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/isttf/

• Internet Evolution: Future of the Internet III Press release for a December 2008 “survey of experts by the Pew Internet & American Life Project that asked respondents to assess predictions about technology and its roles in the year 2020.” Includes summary and full text of the report, which found that experts predict the “mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the internet … in 2020.” Also includes links to previous “Future of the Internet” and other related reports.http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/270/report_display.asp

• Free Online Book – Daniel Solove, an authority on information privacy law, offers a fascinating account of how the Internet is transforming gossip, the way we shame others, and our ability to protect our own reputations. Focusing on blogs, Internet communities, cyber mobs, and other current trends, he shows that, ironically, the unconstrained flow of information on the Internet may impede opportunities for self-development and freedom. Longstanding notions of privacy need review, the author contends: unless we establish a balance among privacy, free speech, and anonymity, we may discover that the freedom of the Internet makes us less free.  http://docs.law.gwu.edu/facweb/dsolove/Future-of-Reputation/text.htm

Parents!  This week, we are hosting our first annual Senior Coffee, designed to give you the opportunity to ask us questions regarding college applications, financial aid, HOPE, etc. as your senior begins to navigate the college application process.  We will have one each morning this week from 8:30 – 10:00am with a different counselor hosting each morning.  To hear specifically from your child’s counselor, please note the following dates:

9/8 - A – Co

9/9 – Cr – Ha

9/10 – He – Mc

9/11 – Me – Sa

9/12 – Sc – Z

After the meeting, we ask that you fill out a survey to let us know how we did, what we could do better, and what information you still need.

We look forward to meeting with you!  Bring all your questions and we’ll help you navigate this rewarding, but potentially confusing process.

Welcome back!  I hope that Spring Break was a relaxing and safe time off for everyone.    Now that we’ve rested and gotten refreshed, it’s the time to really buckle down and work hard to bring up any grades that might not be where you want them to be.  This is NOT the time to coast.  If you are failing a course, you need to speak with your teacher TODAY about what you need to do to improve.  If you haven’t been going to tutoring or getting help from someone, don’t expect that things will get better by just sheer desire.  I love the phrase that is so common in counseling – “if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”  Basically, we can apply this thought in this way: if what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked,  you need to try something else. 

 You may even want to set up (or have your parents set up) a parent teacher conference.  To do this, just speak, or have your parents, contact that teacher and arrange a time.  If you have several teachers to coordinate, contact your counselor and we’ll set up a time for everyone to meet. 

Hopefully, this will help matters and you’ll sail into the summer with a stellar report card.  However, sometimes things just don’t go as hoped and there comes a need for credit recovery.  What should you do in this case??

The first option is summer school.  Some general information can be found on the Oakwood HS webpage.  We will be getting registration materials in the next week, so if there is a class that you need to make up or something you’d like to take to get ahead, come see your counselor for the information.  This year, SS will be at Walton and the dates will run from June 11 – July 9.  Cost is $300 for 1/2 credit and $600 for a full credit (not cheap, I know!  More motivation to pass those classes…).  I’ll post this info on the guidance webpage when we receive the materials and we’ll also be making announcements.

E-High School is another option.  If you want to make up math credits through E-High School, they are offering a longer session and registration is going on currently.  These classes begin in April and end in July.  All other classes will begin in late May after school is out and end in July.  Visit the E-High School webpage for more information and to sign up.  Please keep in mind that E-High School is best for those of you who are self-motivated and can dedicate yourselves to working hard every day without a teacher “making” you do the work.  Many students have all the best intentions and end up not succeeding because they fail to realize the dedication it takes to do well.  In all honesty, if you are a procrastinator, you would probably do better with summer school.

Lastly, I want to make you aware of a new credit-recovery program that is being offered by the state through Georgia Virtual High School.  The cost is $200 per half credit and it is a self-paced program that you do at home on your own computer.  The program is only available to students who have failed a course, so this might be a good option for some.  For more information, visit the GA Credit Recovery webpage.  To register, see your counselor.

It can be a very difficult time for parents and students alike when the time to head to college draws near.  This is, for many, the biggest step in independence their kids have taken, and it can be an exciting, scary, stressful, and emotional process, all rolled into one.  Because most parents aren’t really eager, no matter how much they love their kids, for them to stay at home forever, there comes a time when they must accept that their babies are growing up and help them transition easily and successfully.  Having them attend college and live on campus is one of the best and safest ways to accomplish this feat.  They live with peers in a relatively secure environment, receive additional education to prepare them for a career and get to ease into the role of being responsible for managing their own expenses (food, entertainment, cleaning supplies, etc.) and basic living skills (laundry, maintaining a car, living by a schedule without being hounded by mom and dad, etc.).  While some may struggle with this, most kids adapt well and seem to mature quickly after getting an, albeit, small taste of the real world.

Because this is an issue that every family who has a child heading off to college deals with, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has written a very informative article addressing many of the issues that fledgeling college students and their anxious parents get to face.   Check out this article and let me know what you think!