PEABODY – Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett stressed the importance of educators making meaningful connections with students in the age of social media during his 10th annual School Safety Conference Tuesday.?Kids are reporting they don?t have even three adults they can turn to when they?re in trouble,” Blodgett told a full house of educators, school officials, legislators and law enforcement officers who attended the conference, held at the Peabody Marriott Hotel. “We?re here to address what to do to help kids make better decisions. When kids feel isolated, they act up.”Blodgett noted the disconnect between adults and school-age children due in part to their reliance with social media.?I can remember 10 years ago? seeing kids on the street kicking a ball at the bus stop. This generation has their heads buried in their electronic devices with their thumbs going 1,000 miles per hour,” Blodgett said.U.S. Rep. John Tierney echoed Blodgett?s remarks in a brief speech, saying teachers have a responsibility to students that shouldn?t start and end with the school day.?With so many distractions today, you really have to deal with the whole child,” he said.Blodgett then introduced the keynote speaker, teen development specialist Dr. Robyn Silverman presented for over an hour on the topic of “Creating A Community of Character,” instructing educators and school officials to combat the influence of “anti-role models,” her term for certain reality TV stars and celebrities, who teach kids that “character is optional.”?We need to be there to answer the call, to be there at inconvenient times,” Silverman said. “Not only in body, but in presence of mind.”Silverman said children “need tools to empower themselves” and must be taught by adults to make their own decisions, lest they lose interest in their own futures.?Young people need to feel useful, and they feel put upon, like adults don?t believe in them or aren?t listening,” Silverman said. “If they aren?t involved then we?re just telling them what to do and they won?t be invested.”Every teacher should be a leading example to their students on how to face and overcome obstacles by providing anecdotal evidence, Silverman said.?Tell your stories. Set an example. To let them use us as a safe haven or as a sounding board is a significant thing,” she said.Blodgett said educators are “critical partners” with the DA?s office in keeping kids out of trouble.?We?ve always made it a point to work with them in our outreach programs,” he said. They?re on the front lines of helping kids make good decision that keep them on the right track.”Bernard Melekian, director of Community Oriented Policing Services, and motivational speaker Al Duncan spoke on the positive impacts of school policing and service to others.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].