Symposium Aims To Help Students Understand What They See, Read And Hear In News Media

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An independent Jesuit elementary school in North Philadelphia held it's 18th annual symposium on transforming inner city education.

The symposium this year at the GESU School centered around helping students understand what they see, read and hear in the news media.

"So we can make sure that we are meeting the needs of our children when they come back to school having heard about or observed or witnessed on the news a tragic event like the church massacre in Charleston," said Bryan Carter, the school's President and CEO.

Among the panelists, Dana Weeks, the head at Germantown Friends School, who talked about developing a school protocol to address tragic events. She talks about silent reflection.

"What we do every week is we sit in communal silence and out of that silence our students are able to find their voices and able to find their way in the world," said Weeks.

The psychological and physical effects of news consumption on kids was also discussed.