Session 3 “What decades of prevention science can teach us about raising/mentoring healthy children.” – Dr. J. David Hawkins [DigCitSummit 2017]
(We had some technical difficulties with the recording, so we do not have video from Dr. Hawkins’ presentation, but following are his slides and a similar address he gave regarding the risk and protective factors.)
David Hawkins Digital Citizenship Summit presentation
Dr. Hawkins sent us this presentation given in Colorado just before the DigCitSummit. (Four dozen communities in Colorado are adopting the Communities that Care model, which focuses on risk AND protective factors and the Social Development Strategy that Dr. Hawkins explained — which he thinks has potential application in the realm of Positive Digital Citizenship.)
Please note especially the Social Development Strategy and how the proven practices of providing pro-social opportunities, skill-building, and positive reinforcement might apply in the Digital Citizenship sphere. Dr. Hawkins talked extensively about how these three things help build bonds that are critical to healthy development and the establishment of healthy boundaries in all spheres of a child’s life (personal/peer, family, school, community).
Dr. Hawkins encouraged us to point to videos about the Social Development Strategy that can be found at the Social Development Strategy page of the Communities that Care website.
See also the collaborative white paper that was written as part of this Summit, exploring possible ways that prevention science, Digital Citizenship, and media literacy experts could work together toward healthy youth development in a digital world.
Dr. J. David Hawkins is Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington. He received his BA in 1967 from Stanford University and his PhD in Sociology from Northwestern University in 1975. His research focuses on understanding and preventing child and adolescent health and behavior problems. He seeks to identify risk and protective factors for health and behavior problems across multiple domains; to understand how these factors interact in the development of healthy behavior and the prevention of problem behaviors. He develops and tests prevention strategies which seek to reduce risk through the enhancement of strengths and protective factors in families, schools, and communities.
Dr. Hawkins has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles and several books as well as prevention programs for parents and families, including Guiding Good Choices, Parents Who Care, and Supporting School Success. His prevention work is guided by the social development model, his theory of human behavior.
See also Dr. Hawkins’ seminal white paper.