Mentoring Digital Safety and Positive Online Behavior - SE4EP8 - Anvita Ambardekar & Amber Flores
Amber Flores and Anvita Ambardekar share their insights on mentoring, digital advocacy, and promoting safe online behaviors. They discuss the challenges and rewards of their roles, offering valuable advice for parents, educators, and students alike.
Tune in for an enlightening conversation that explores the intersection of digital safety, student empowerment, and community support.
Sponsored by Skill Samurai - Coding, Maths and STEM Academy | | www.skillsamurai.com.au
AI-Generated transcript
Introduction
Jamie (00:00.284)
Hello parents and welcome to another episode of Parenting in the Digital Age podcast. Today, I'm excited to have two extraordinary guests with us who bring unique perspectives on positive online behavior and combating cyber bullying, very, very important topics in the digital age, protecting our kids and protecting each other, even as adults in this digital space. Our first guest is Amber Flores, a dedicated mentor with a diverse background that spans across the Air Force and now in recruiting.
And joining her is Anvita Ambardekar a high school sophomore from Southern California, who serves as the lead public relations intern at Digital for Good and I Can Help, two organizations doing impactful work in this digital space, protecting kids of all ages across the planet. Anvita is a passionate advocate for digital safety and has been at the forefront of initiatives promoting positive online behavior and combating cyber bullying. Through her work.
She's made a significant impact on creating safer digital environments for students. Let's dive right in and have this important conversation.
Interview
Anvita Ambardekar (00:00.782)
Amber, Anvita, welcome to the show today. Please start by sharing with our listeners a little bit about what you do and what you're passionate about, especially as it relates to Digital for Good and I Can Help. Yes, so my name is Anvita and I am a high school student in the Los Angeles area. And so I've been with Digital for Good, I can help for three years now and I
I am the seasonal head of people, so I lead a team of multiple teams of college students and kind of just overseeing them. And I'm just, you know, passionate about kind of doing volunteer work and then just giving back. It's something that brings me a lot of satisfaction and I love to do it. Thank you, Amber. Yes, my name is Amber. I have been with Digital Work at a
Amber (00:51.19)
Yes, my name is Amber. I have.
been with the digital program and I can help for a couple of years now, both of those working with Anvita. So it's just been such a pleasure, but I am really passionate about getting back to my community. I think in working with students and the younger population is really giving back and setting ourselves up for future because they are our future. And that's really, truly where my passion comes in just helping as a mentor. It just feels like so
Anvita Ambardekar (00:58.222)
years now both of those working with Anvita so it's just been such a pleasure but I am really passionate about getting back to my community.
I think in working with students and the younger population is really giving back and setting ourselves up for future because they are our future. And that's really truly where my passion comes in just helping as a mentor. It just feels like so little work and it's so meaningful for me. I couldn't agree more. Wonderful sentiments. Amber, can you maybe describe a little bit about your role as a mentor within the organisation?
Amber (01:25.08)
little work and it's so meaningful for me.
Anvita Ambardekar (01:36.493)
What does that mean? What does it look like?
Amber (01:36.63)
Yes.
Yeah, absolutely. It sounds like I'm doing a whole lot of work, but in all honesty, I am ears. That's it. I'm ears and I get to hear these fantastic ideas that these students have. I get to give them a positive nudge and then watch them go off and do their great things. And that's just fantastic. I really truly am. I just listen. I listen and I'm supporter and an encourager and they have brilliant
Anvita Ambardekar (01:38.061)
Yeah, absolutely. It sounds like, you know, I'm doing a whole lot of work, but in all honesty, I am ears. That's it. I'm ears and I get to hear these fantastic ideas that these students have. I get to give them a positive nudge and then watch them like go off and do their great things. And that's just fantastic. You know, like I really truly am. I just listen. I listen and I'm a supporter and an encourager and they have brilliant
Amber (02:07.784)
ideas, they just need somewhere to take that to, right? Like, does it sound good? Is this in line with all of the things that they're supposed to be doing? And they know, they know and they go and they do great things and it's amazing to watch.
Anvita Ambardekar (02:08.015)
ideas they just need somewhere to take that to right like doesn't sound good is it is this in in line with all of the things that they're supposed to be doing and they know I know and they go and they do great things and it's amazing to watch yeah it certainly is and and Anvita maybe help our listeners understand what what is I can help and digital for good
Yeah, for sure. So our organization, we're a nonprofit organization based here in the United States. We are primarily serving the United States, but we do have interns internationally and we do do workshops and webinars that are international collaborations. And we are a student focused and student led nonprofit. So all of our content is made by students for students and
We have kind of three branches of our organization. So we have our educate branch, which is where we go out and do trainings and presentations to various schools, conferences. And then we have our engage part, which is our monthly webinars and our annual summit. And then we have our empower branch, which is our internship program that me and Amber are both part of. And then
All of our students, we have a lot of different teams like PR and graphics and things like that and we collectively work together to produce all our content and organize events and things like that. And our primary goal is fighting back against digital negativity. Social media is such an increasing platform that people use.
And there's so many amazing things that can be done on it, but there's also some negativity. So we want to combat that and make sure it's a positive and safe place for everyone. Well, that's an important mission and some important work you guys are doing. Great to see the student led organization. That's incredible. I wasn't aware of that coming onto the call and that excites me to no end. A question for you both is what are some of the biggest challenges you see in the digital landscape today for students?
Anvita Ambardekar (04:20.525)
I think for me, it's so I'm not an avid user of social media, actually. So I think I see that difference between myself and my peers. So a lot of times I think it's tying your self worth to your social media account. So how many likes you get or how many comments or you're the negative comments like tying your self worth and how good you are to that. Yeah, Amber, would you add to that? Yeah, I think it's the long term piece.
Amber (04:46.262)
Yeah, I think it's the long term piece, right? Where, you know, in the short term, it's the likes and the like it. Are you feeling good about yourself as a teenager? Right. But long term, it comes down to the communication piece and the relationship building. And what are your relationships look like in real life that are not on social platforms? You know, and I can talk about it all day, but it's it's a huge hindrance to a lot of things and people just in general.
Anvita Ambardekar (04:49.389)
right where you know in the short term it's the likes and the like it.
Are you feeling good about yourself as a teenager? Right? But long term, it comes down to the communication piece and the relationship building. And what are your relationships look like in real life that are not on social platforms? You know, and I can talk about it all day, but it's, it's a huge hindrance to a lot of things and people just in general, not just students, right? People in general have that like lack of ability to communicate. And it's really scary. Yeah.
Amber (05:16.168)
not just students, right? People in general have that lack of ability to communicate and it's really scary.
Anvita Ambardekar (05:25.583)
and the cards are stacked against our kids, right? Because these social media giants and software and tech companies, they're not all villains, by the way, but certainly it is designed to pull you in, create a chemical response within the brain and keep you addicted onto these platforms. And it can be very, very difficult once people get attached to social media, myself included. I use social media for business and then find myself 15 minutes later lost down a feed that, you know,
Amber (05:27.766)
Yes.
Amber (05:48.339)
yes.
Anvita Ambardekar (05:55.117)
Something's, you know, somewhere I shouldn't be, right? It's not related to my work. Absolutely. And there are so many... Go ahead. It's a slippery slope. It doesn't matter which social media platform it is.
Amber (05:57.206)
yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's it's.
It's a slippery slope with it. It doesn't matter which social media platform it is. And, you know, I find myself in a professional setting helping job seekers. And I tell them, you know, we talk LinkedIn and things like that. And I talk to job seekers about like even LinkedIn at the end of the day, it's a social media platform. It will suck you in and spit you right back out. And you've wasted an entire day rather than job seeking. So it's across all platforms. It's scary.
Anvita Ambardekar (06:07.501)
I find myself in a professional setting helping job seekers and I tell them, we talk LinkedIn and things like that and I talk to job seekers about like even LinkedIn at the end of the day, it's a social media platform. It will suck you in and spit you right back out and you've wasted an entire day rather than job seeking. So it's across all platforms, it's scary.
So true. And there are many aspects to digital safety that I don't think our kids are right across. And this is the good work that you guys are embarking on in your communities. I mean, you've got cyber bullying, privacy and security, the digital footprint predators, online predators, managing their content. And if they are using social media, how do they responsibly do that? And then how they communicate on the internet so that they...
are keeping each other safe. So stopping some of that negativity and or bullying if you like, I suppose. So I don't know, this is maybe a broad question, but, and Anvita, tell us about one of the programs that you run specifically within Digital for Good that addresses some of these things in schools. Yeah, so our main program is
where we go out and do trainings and presentations to middle schools and high schools or at leadership conferences. So these oftentimes our executive director, Kim Carr, she is the one who facilitates these. And then oftentimes we have students that go and present, present alongside her because students are the first ones who see things on social media. You know, when something goes up, they're the first ones there. So we want to train them to be
digital first responders and be able to, you know, if they see something negative, like not, not like fuel it further and
Anvita Ambardekar (08:04.877)
So that's kind of our main program. And then in terms of what interns do, our biggest event of the year is our annual Digital for Good Summit. Usually takes place around Safer Internet Day in February. And we always partner with some tech company. This past year, we were at Google in New York City, and we bring in about eight students who have their own projects or organizations and are using
digital technology for good and we want to give them a platform to share what they're doing and kind of just spread the positivity that is going around on social media. And then we also include like panel discussions and then more kind of digital safety training throughout that. And it's a chance where students get to connect with each other and then also with these tech companies like Google or Snapchat so that they are getting feedback from the students who are like the most
of users.
Anvita Ambardekar (09:10.893)
That's incredible. And to be able to have a line to those social media companies and for them to actually be actively listening or hopefully actively listening is quite a big thing. Parents, I think, are getting more tech savvy, particularly some of the younger parents I see out in our own organization and around our communities. But I still think there are many parents that just don't know where to start. You know, they perhaps...
I won't say empower their kids with social media, but they're perhaps allowed social media to occur. You know, kids can be quite persuasive and maybe it starts out quite innocently, but I think then when it gets out of control, parents lack the tools to be able to maybe help and empower their kids to proactively manage their social media usage. So what are some practical tips, anything that you recommend to parents to help their children navigate this digital world safely? Yeah, so the biggest thing is
parents and their students being on the same page. So what we like to say is that, like between our students and mentors, where it's not like one knows more than the other, we're constantly teaching each other things and we're all on the same page. Like students are the first to see new features that come out on apps, but our mentors and parents are the first that, you know, maybe see some sort of issue or.
cyber balloon or something like that with their child. So we want to be on the same page and then kind of just facilitating that discussion between parent and student in a fun way that's not boring or like, it feels like it's getting a little bit intense, but just opening up that conversation and being able to talk about social media and kind of the realistic consequences, but also like in how many ways it's an amazing tool that connects so many people.
Yeah, it's important to have, I think, to start these open discussions early. You know, some of the feedback I hear from parents is that, you know, they've allowed their child to have the social media or the online gaming social aspects for so long that they find it hard to then start having those conversations or their child is resistant to having those conversations. So what do you recommend to maybe an older parent who's in that situation where
Anvita Ambardekar (11:33.576)
Perhaps they haven't had the relevant or necessary conversations. It hasn't perhaps been an open household or environment. And maybe the tech usage is out of control. This is something we're seeing quite a lot of, particularly in our communities. Any advice to those parents? How do you regain control, is it word? Or how do you empower your kids to come out of that? I mean, obviously people have different parenting styles, but for me,
personally what would be the most effective is if my parent told me which is like hey you know what you do on social media now might impact you 10 years later when you try to get a job like that would scare me so much I would be like okay you know take a step back but I think kind of based on like what situation you're in kind of revolving around the consequences of social media
and then just promoting the positivity too, we don't want to focus on the negative things so trying to be like, hey, just stay away from the negative drama and things that happen because when you even just like a post or comment on a post that is negative or inappropriate, you're saying that you approve of it indirectly
That's something that I think not a lot of students are aware of. So I feel like if the majority of students become aware of this, it would just by itself be a big step in empowering them with that information. And that's our main goal is to provide both parents and students with this information so that they can use social media wisely.
Yeah, yeah. I think you're a wonderful exception to the rule, and I think you've been raised exceptionally well. For many young people I know, even my own kids, if I said, think about what this is going to do in 10 years to you. Most of them, because of the conditioning and the way that social media is built, most of these young people are thinking five minutes ahead, right? You know, they're just looking for the next dopamine hit or the next...
Amber (13:37.75)
you
Anvita Ambardekar (13:49.798)
that they're interested in, I suppose. Maybe that's not the best way to word that, but many don't have a long -term view. So well done to you and certainly to your parents. Amber, maybe a question for you. Earlier it was mentioned about the Digital First Responders Program. Can you tell me a bit about what that is exactly and maybe who can get involved in that? You know what, I'm definitely going to let Anvita talk on that one for sure. Go ahead.
Amber (14:10.838)
You know what? I'm definitely going to let Envy to talk on that one for sure.
Anvita Ambardekar (14:17.095)
So our digital first responders is not necessarily a program. It's what we empower students to be, students and parents to be. So through our presentations and trainings, we empower them to be digital first responders so that when they see that negative post or negative comment on social media, they can respond to it. I mean, and if they feel comfortable, obviously that, hey, this is not right. It's nice. It's not right. And then when a certain amount of people do that,
and report the post, it gets taken down. And we've seen that power through our organization. When someone finds a post that is not very positive, they just send it through our channels and it's taken down within a couple of hours. And it's very incredible to see how that happens when so many people are contributing to the effort. And maybe Amber, you wanna add something?
Anvita Ambardekar (15:15.398)
You just cut out the last five seconds there, but I think I got the majority of that. So digital first responders is more a movement, would you say that? Yeah.
Anvita Ambardekar (15:28.07)
Yeah, I love this, love the concept, I love that idea. And at the conclusion of this, I want to talk to you about these programs in Australia. I think if you're not running them already, I want to figure out how to get these programs over here and into the hands of parents and young people. I'm curious, how do you measure the impact of programs on students and communities? I think Amber, you want to go ahead and take this one? How do we measure the impact?
Amber (15:54.838)
How do we measure the impact? You know, I feel like as a mentor, I have an interesting and maybe different perspective than Anvita as a student because she sees and like has so much more interaction than I do. Like my scope is so small with my specific team that I work with. But for me, like seeing the impact is...
Anvita Ambardekar (15:57.414)
You know, I feel like as a mentor, I have an interesting and maybe different perspective than in Vida as a student because she sees and like has so much more interaction than I do. Like my scope is so small with my specific team that I work with. But for me, like seeing the impact is...
Amber (16:19.254)
really seeing the growth of these kids, right? And seeing them get themselves into the community and seeing them be proactive and all of the things that they are doing. And really like as a mentor, if I can make a difference and help one student, that's amazing. If I can help a team of four, like that impact is even better, right? But I think from a student perspective, Anvita has so many ways that she can share impacts and that sort of thing.
Anvita Ambardekar (16:19.462)
really seeing the growth of these kids, right? And seeing them get themselves into the community and seeing them be proactive and all of the things that they are doing. And really like as a mentor, if I can make a difference and help one student, that's amazing. If I can help a team of four, like that impact is even better, right? But I think from a student perspective, Anvita has so many ways that she can share impacts and that sort of thing.
Sorry. Go ahead, go ahead. Our primary impact that we see a lot of times is before we go to a school and do a presentation, there's a fake page or maybe a page that's making mean comments about teachers, something along that line. And then afterwards, it gets taken down very quickly and is often replaced by a page that's like share kind quotes or something like that. So that's one of the like
very direct and immediate transformations that we can see. That's incredible. That's an incredible transformation because I've seen pages like that and I get very concerned when I see, you know, educators do a tremendous job and I get that sometimes that, you know, I was a student and a child myself that these things might seem funny at first but they can be tremendously devastating emotionally and mentally for those educators involved. So that's a great outcome.
So what are some of the resources available? So if I'm a teacher listening right now or an educator in the system, are there resources that we can tap into through Digital for Good and I Can Help? Yeah, for sure. So we have webinars and trainings online, especially since you're based in Australia. We have online things for an international platform and then we have curriculum.
that you can get from us online. So like slideshows, posters, things like that, and that kind of you can present them at your own schools or institutions. And we have different courses for admin and educators, parents, students. So based on what audience you're trying to target for.
Anvita Ambardekar (18:38.629)
Yeah, yeah, incredible. So maybe, well, a question for either of you, I suppose. Are there some signs that parents could look for if they suspect their child is struggling with digital safety?
Yeah, so you can always DM our account. It's I can help official on Instagram We do get a lot of DMs requesting help with cyber bullying or something like that and then There are other resources like I mean Well, this is for the US but there's like the national suicide or crisis hotline and things like that That are always there to text or call
I'm not so sure about Australia, but there's also other institutions that you can reach out to. I'm not sure about digital safety, but when it comes to mental health or something. So similarly, we do that for digital safety where you can DM or email us and then we'll get you connected with either one of our mentors or interns or something like that, depending on what the situation is and how severe.
That's incredible, incredible resource. And this is all run by volunteers. Yes, we have about 150 students. Well, that's incredible. Amber, let's just go back to mentoring for a minute. Yeah. Sort of coming full circle. What are some of the challenges you faced as a mentor and maybe how you've overcome them? Yes, you know, I feel like in...
Amber (20:08.726)
Yeah, absolutely.
Amber (20:14.998)
Yes, I feel like in the few years that I have been a mentor, some of the challenges have been sort of like parenting related myself, right? Because as a parent, I feel like I try to convey the same sorts of messages, right? Like I have a 10 year old, but these kids are just older than that, right? And so being able to kind of like meet the students where they're at and be really understanding that
Anvita Ambardekar (20:18.948)
the few years that I have been a mentor, some of the challenges have been sort of like, like parenting related myself, right? Because as a parent, I feel like I try to convey the same sorts of messages, right? Like I have a 10 year old, but these kids are just older than that, right? And so being able to kind of like meet the students where they're at and be really understanding that, you know, I'm not there in my parenthood yet, right? With just a 10 year old, but
Amber (20:43.766)
You know, I'm not there in my parenthood yet, right, with just a 10 year old, but like learning from the students has been an incredible challenge for me. It's been so insightful at the same time and it's really presented a great learning opportunity for me to learn lots of things alongside these students in terms of challenges that they face and things that they are battling in a day to day, right, that are just so different than when I was a teenager. And so it's been...
Anvita Ambardekar (20:48.579)
like learning from the students has been an incredible challenge for me. It's been so insightful at the same time and it's really presented a great learning opportunity for me to learn lots of things alongside these students in terms of challenges that they face and things that they are battling in a day to day, right, that are just so different than when I was a teenager. And so it's been fantastic. It's been really challenging, but it's also been
Amber (21:11.446)
It's been fantastic. It's been really challenging, but it's also been really insightful so that it's going to make me a better parent in just a few years once my daughter is a teenager.
Anvita Ambardekar (21:15.203)
really insightful so that it's gonna make me a better parent in just a few years once my daughter is a teenager. That's the thing with community and contribution, it always gives back in unexpected ways. Absolutely. I really admire that. It's full circle. It really is, it really is. So how can perhaps community support initiatives like Digital for Good and the work being done by mentors such as yourself like...
Amber (21:27.369)
Absolutely. It's a full circle.
Anvita Ambardekar (21:41.89)
I'm just thinking out loud like I'm a member of a local Rotary Club and we support lots of youth initiatives in our community and sponsor kids for various things. But is this something that other organisations in the community can get involved in or help promote? Or this is really just between you guys in schools and you guys and parents? Is there a part that our community should be playing in helping digital safety for our young people? I think it is the education piece, honestly, because
Amber (22:07.254)
I think it is the education piece, honestly, because sure, we can go to schools and we can connect with parents, but really at the end of the day, we want to be able to connect with students where they're at. Does that mean it's a social platform? Does that mean it's in their school? Wherever we can meet them, I think is really ideal.
Anvita Ambardekar (22:11.427)
Like sure, we can go to schools and we can connect with parents, but really at the end of the day, like we want to be able to connect with students where they're at. Does that mean it's a social platform? Does that mean it's in their school? Right? Like wherever we can meet them, I think is really ideal.
And just to add on, we're always looking to partner with other organizations that are doing something great in their own communities. And we're always looking for new interns and mentors to join our team, or even just industry experts who can help us out for a short amount of time. So anyone is welcome to join our mission, and we're always looking for people to join our family.
Incredible work, incredible work. You earlier shared a success story where you go into schools and empower students with knowledge and they've taken down the page that talks about teachers in a negative way. Are there any other maybe individual success stories that you can share or something that resonates with either of you over your time here that you can share? Obviously privately in terms of no names, but are there any success stories that you can share to
inspire our listeners.
Anvita Ambardekar (23:31.65)
That's a good one, I have to think about that.
Anvita Ambardekar (23:38.05)
It's difficult because most of your work is done obviously with groups and schools, but I'm just curious.
Anvita Ambardekar (23:49.314)
No, I can't really think of one, Amber. Yeah, I'm kind of drawing a blank as well, Jamie, I'm sorry. That's okay, don't be sorry. Let's see, I'll do a little bit of an edit there. Let me just mark that.
Amber (23:51.574)
Yeah, I'm kind of drawing a blank as well, Jamie, I'm sorry.
Anvita Ambardekar (24:10.081)
Alright, where are we?
previous thing goes.
Anvita Ambardekar (24:21.281)
So maybe as we round off the podcast, let me come to the question that I ask all of our guests and I'll give each of you a chance to respond here. If you had a time machine, right? And you can go back to your younger self. Normally we say your 12 year old younger self. What's one piece of advice that you would give your younger self?
Amber (24:49.174)
I think I'll go first. So if I, that's just a few years for me, just a few years was 12 years, I was 12 years old. But advice I would give myself would probably be surrounding kindness, right? Like giving that kindness and that kindness will also come back because maybe I could have been more kind at 12 years old, but I didn't know better, right?
Anvita Ambardekar (24:49.377)
I think I'll go first. So if I that's that's just a few years for me just a few years was 12 years old. I was 12 years old. But advice I would give myself would probably be surrounding kindness, right? Like, like giving that kindness and that kindness will also come back because maybe I maybe I could have been more kind at 12 years old, but I didn't know better, right? Yeah.
And for me, I think I would say open up and trust people because I've always been more of an introvert person. And I think when I started opening up, it was very helpful.
That's how you do get involved with things like this. And I think, like Amber said, it gives you so much back to you. And it's, when you think about it, it's always amazing to be a part of it and kind of see where you've gone over the past couple of years. Yeah, wise advice, team, wise advice indeed. How can educators, schools, parents get in contact? How can they find you on the internet?
Yeah, our website is Icanhelp .net and you can always DM us on Instagram, Icanhelpofficial. And for educators, all of our curriculum is on our website available to look at and if you wanted to purchase that. For parents as well, we have resources and...
educational webinars, those are all free, like the webinars and things like that. And then obviously the internship program for students, that's also available through our website for both high school and college students. So you can always just email internships at icanhelp .net and we would be happy to find what team is the right fit for you.
Anvita Ambardekar (26:49.856)
Fantastic. And Anvita, Amber, thank you so much for joining us today. It's an important message that parents and educators need to hear and a message that we all need to do more work on as parents and community citizens and the like. So thank you very much for your impact, your generosity and your time today. And I hope we cross paths again soon. Cheers. Thank you for having us. You're welcome.