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What Makes CASEN Unique
- CASEN (Collaborative Advancement for Social-Emotional Needs) stands for hope and it is a place where everyone matters.
- There is no escaping social media. CASEN teaches children how to manage social media safely.
- CASEN empowers children through practical lessons that connect to their inner being.
- CASEN empowers parents to have difficult conversations about bullying, mental health, social media and gaming, among other things, with their children.
- CASEN bridges the gap between school and social media by continuing the lessons learned in school. Transformation of learning occurs by taking lessons and applying the lessons to real life and everyday situations.
- CASEN provides a safe space for children to interact with peers on social media, as they learn and practice skills such as self-management, resiliency, and decision making.
- Through peer group interactions, children gain self-confidence as they learn to take turns and respect the differences in others.
- CASEN affords children the opportunity to practice what they have learned about social wellness and social media, on a safe facilitated app, in a judgment free zone.
About Us
CASEN’s concept originated when Chris was asked by his father if there was anything that he wished he had in school that he did not have that could help kids today. After careful consideration, Chris said, “I wish someone would have taught me how to be appropriate on social media. I want to teach kids how to be appropriate on social media because they may not have the village I had that helped me become appropriate.” Chris asked his mother, Dr. Clark, if she would help build a social media app that would help kids who struggle with social-emotional needs like he did become appropriate on social media.
Dr. Clark said yes in 2017 and CASEN LLC was formed.
Mission
Our Mission
To help children communicate appropriately on different social media platforms for school, life skills, and the workplace, through social-emotional learning. To bridge the gap between the classroom and social media, while creating a safe environment for children with social-emotional needs.
CASEN Platforms
CASEN Outreach allows CASEN facilitators to go into the community to teach social media awareness, appropriateness and readiness.
We provide lessons, videos, and other resources, via the PA Office of Attorney General and other platforms to demonstrate the significance and dangers that inappropriate behavior on social media can cause. Students are taught about different types of bullying, including cyberbullying.
The facilitators can meet the needs of the institution on an hourly or weekly basis. If CASEN is invited to speak at a seminar or conference, we will design content around the time allotted for us. If CASEN is asked to teach at a summer camp, CASEN will have one hour per week standing time for the camp for a determined amount of weeks.
CASEN Outreach is geared towards children 9-13 years of age. However, children with varying ages are welcome as the parents or institutions deem appropriate.
Who we Serve
- Camps
- Churches
- Communities
- Counselors & Therapists
- Families
- Home Schooled Children
- Charter, Private and Public Schools
- and other organizations
Topics
- Child predators/pedophiles
- Digital Citizenship
- Digital footprints
- Internet safety tips
- Mental health surrounding social media
- Privacy settings
- Sexting laws (Basic)
- The dangers of social media
- Think before you speak
- Types of Bullying-Cyberbullying, Physical, Verbal, & Social bullying
CASEN Education is designed to identify the strengths of the student to build upon their strengths. This is done through CASEN Education Social Network Wellness Academy.
The student’s challenges and weaknesses will be identified and strengthened. Many education platforms identify weaknesses and deficits of students which may cause the student to feel less than or behind their peers. CASEN believes that for students to become appropriate on social media, students need to learn what it means to have social wellness and practice those skills in a safe environment on a safe social media platform.
Social wellness is taught through CASEN Education Social Network Wellness Academy. The Social Network Wellness Academy is an online course of seven learning modules for students 9-13 years of age. CASEN’s approach is to empower the student where they currently are and stimulate them to want to learn more. This will be done through a series of weekly mini lessons and assessments. Once the CASEN curriculum is completed, the students will progress to the CASEN Connect social media app to practice what they have learned.
“CASEN Education’s Social Network Wellness Academy is the best of education and social media, a place where the two collide for the betterment of society. Children learn to grow and have fun on social media in a safe and healthy way. If you can’t beat them, join them by teaching them how to do it right.”
– Dr. Myava Clark
CASEN Connect is a social media platform designed for students with social-emotional needs, as well as other differences.
The purpose of CASEN Connect is to serve as a precursor to other social media platforms. This will help prepare students for a safe experience on sites that are not monitored by a facilitator.
CASEN Connect is designed to support adult leaders such as teachers, parents/caregivers, social workers, psychologists and anyone who works with student groups (children who have a social deficit). In addition to the adult leaders using CASEN Connect as a tool to provide learning content, CASEN provides a question of the day. The question of the day helps guide the student to feel comfortable communicating on an online platform. This will help lead students to make appropriately acceptable social media posts. The question of the day starts out with a lot of guidance and structure and transitions into more independent thinking. CASEN Connect also builds social skills by allowing students to connect with peers in their group on Monday – Thursday then they connect with peers from other groups on Friday.
CASEN Connect is by invitation only and the student’s responses are monitored and approved before the response is visible to peers. This is accomplished by an adult facilitator who monitors the site for appropriateness.