Your child may be sitting right next to you...

…but do you really know what their online world looks like?

Social media has become an enormous part of growing up. Friendships happen there. Conflicts happen there. Identities are explored there. Trends spread there. And much of it takes place in a digital world that can feel completely foreign to the adults trying to raise, teach, and protect today's kids.

Join us for an important and timely community conversation with Jessy Verkler about what parents should understand about children, teenagers, and social media—and how we can stay connected to our kids while helping them navigate an increasingly complicated online world.

Jessy brings a wonderfully varied perspective to the conversation. Her background spans education, youth and summer-camp work, theology and ministry, hospitality, local business ownership, community leadership, and parenting. A longtime Santa Ynez Valley resident, Jessy has also served her community through local tourism organizations and as a Third District Commissioner on the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women.

During this Speaker Series, we'll open the conversation around questions so many parents are asking:

• 📱 What are our kids actually doing on social media?

• 🧠 How might constant online interaction affect developing minds, confidence, and identity?

• ❤️ What happens when likes, followers, comments, and comparison become part of growing up?

• 🚩 What should parents be paying attention to?

• 💬 How do we talk to our kids about their online lives without immediately shutting down the conversation?

• 👀 How much monitoring is appropriate—and when does monitoring become invading their privacy?

• 🤝 How can parents create trust so kids actually come to us when something goes wrong?

• 📵 How do families establish healthier boundaries around phones and social media without making technology the enemy?

• ❓ And perhaps most importantly: How do we parent kids through a digital world we ourselves never had to grow up in?

This isn't about demonizing social media or telling parents to throw their children's phones away.

It's about understanding the world our kids are living in.

Whether you're raising an elementary school child just beginning to encounter social media, navigating the teenage years, parenting a young adult, working with kids, or simply trying to understand how technology is reshaping childhood, this conversation is for you.

Bring your questions.

Bring your concerns.

Bring your experiences.

Because when it comes to our kids and social media, knowing more gives us a better chance of staying connected when it matters most.

RSVP to sonja@clementinecarterwines.com