Letters

LETTER: Parenting in the Age of Texts, Tweets and Skype

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{This is the second in a series of three articles about the Watertown Lecture Series on children and technology.}

Welcome to the digital age! Teens and tweens have unprecedented access to Instagram Tumblr, SnapChat, Secret, Slingshot, Whisper, Ask.fm, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Pinterest, Skype, FaceTime, Omegle and other new apps developed daily.Cell phone ownership among kids is widespread and on the rise. Across Massachusetts, in 2011, 20 percent of third graders, 25 percent of fourth graders, 40 percent of fifth graders and 85 percent of 6-12 graders reported having their own phone. Of these, more than 90 percent could use their phone to go online and text. As a result, the average teenager sends more than 3,000 texts per month or more than six texts per waking hour. Kristin Noto, a Middlesex District Attorney from the Partnership for Youth spoke at the Watertown Speaker Series on Wednesday, April 1.

Around Town

Sign Up Now for Watertown Helps Out – Dozens of Projects Planned

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Watertown Helps Out is a day of community service organized by Watertown Community Foundation. You can sign up for a one-time volunteer activity in your local community that you can do with your family, friends, or on your own. The Watertown Community Foundation’s (WCF) Watertown Helps Out – annual day of volunteering is taking place again this year on Saturday, May 2 at over 20 Watertown nonprofits. The day begins with a 8:30am Kick-off Breakfast and Sign-in. Roberta Miller, co-chair of WCF’s organizing committee, stated, “Last year’s WHO event saw over 150 volunteers help local nonprofits by gardening, painting, building fences, cleaning up the riverfront, assisting seniors with household tasks, and sprucing up a children’s play area – just to mention a few of the activities. This year we have openings for more than twice as many volunteers, and we expect well over 300 to help out around town.”

Many of the activities are kid-friendly, and there are over two dozen to choose from! Before volunteering, join us for a kickoff breakfast at the Arsenal Project and pick up your free T-shirt.

Around Town

MIT Expert Coming to Watertown to Speak About Vibrant Aging

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Join your Watertown neighbors for an interactive presentation from the MIT AgeLab on Tuesday, March 31. Julie Miller, MSW, will talk about the MIT AgeLab and its research, “Forecast the Aging Future of Generation Y,” and screen/discuss her documentary film, “Vibrant Aging.” The event is open to the public and will run from 7-9 p.m. (6:30 Sign-in) at the Apartments at Coolidge School’s Auditorium, 319 Arlington St., Watertown. Miller is a Research Associate at the MIT AgeLab and a Lecturer at Northeastern University. Julie’s background in gerontological social work and mixed media production is reflected in her qualitative research. She received her Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Gerontology from The University of California, Berkeley.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Has Grants for Education, Institutions

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The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) announced two Spring 2015 grant programs to support local nonprofits, programs and projects. Approximately $70,000 will be distributed. One: WCF’s Educational Program will award grants designed to help organizations that serve Watertown develop new or continue existing programs with an educational focus, broadly defined. Two: WCF’s Institutional Support is designed to help institutions central to the Watertown community by providing funds to maintain critical programming and retain paid staff. Grants under this program impose neither restrictions on the use of funds nor any program requirements.

Around Town

See Which Groups got Grants from the Watertown Community Foundation

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The Watertown Community Foundation handed out more than $19,000 in Healthy Watertown grants – see which groups got them. The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) Board of Directors awarded the grants, which funded by Tufts Health Plan Foundation. The following ten nonprofit organizations serving Watertown got the grants:

Families for Depression Awareness: A grant to conduct a Teen Depression Program in Watertown to educate a minimum of 100 families. Improbable Players and Watertown Middle School: A grant to present WMS sixth graders with a performance about substance abuse prevention and healthy choices as well as to provide six related theater workshops for the seventh graders. Lowell Elementary School: A grant to expand the school’s Learning Garden so each grade level will have designated space for curriculum-connected, project-based learning.

Business

Tufts Health Plan Foundation Awards $1.6 Million in Grants

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Watertown-based Tuft Health Plan Foundation has handed out more than $1.6 million in grants to 43 organizations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The grants are part of the first cycle of funding in 2014, according to an announcement from the foundation. Some of the grant recipients are in Watertown or serve the community, including the Watertown Community Foundation and Springwell. The largest number of grants this cycle fell in the Health & Wellness program area, primarily for initiatives that promote chronic disease self-management and prevention, exercise and nutrition, and fall prevention. The foundation also awarded more than 25 percent of its grants in the area of Purposeful Engagement, which includes community involvement, volunteerism and intergenerational programs as well as caregiver support programs.

“We’re proud of our partnerships in community and recognize that we don’t do this work alone,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, executive director of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president, corporate citizenship for Tufts Health Plan.