Digital Communities: Understanding Your Child's Online Social World

Join us at the West Berkeley Family Wellness Center to explore how online friendships, gaming, streaming, and digital communities can provide meaningful connection and belonging for youth. 

Parents will learn practical ways to evaluate online relationships for reciprocity, support, boundaries, and safety, while approaching their child's digital social world with curiosity rather than fear or dismissal.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

• Identify different forms of online social connection, including friendship, community participation, and parasocial relationships.
• Evaluate online relationships using indicators of reciprocity, support, boundaries, and safety.
• Describe how online spaces can support belonging and social connection, including for neurodivergent youth.
• Apply strategies for discussing online relationships and safety with youth using curiosity, communication, and developmentally appropriate involvement.