With the school holidays on our doorstep and students having more time on their hands, I thought it fitting to write a reminder on how to keep children safe online. A recent New York Times report ‘highlights a 17 percent increase in screen use among teens and tweens in the last two years — more than in the four years prior’

The internet is having an increasing influence on the social development of our children and how they interact with each other. Social media, smart phones, smart watches and other technologies provide children with wonderful opportunities to learn, be creative and socialise.

However, just as with face-to-face interactions, sometimes bullying and harassment can occur online. Being online is often a positive and fulfilling experience for children. Content can be posted instantaneously, but the downfall is that children can potentially post messages without thinking about future ramifications. Once it’s online, it is there forever.

Importantly, just like in the real world, not everyone is a friend. While people can use apps, websites, chat rooms and other online tools to send positive messages, compliments and congratulatory messages, others can use the technology to send nasty and inappropriate messages to each other. (Know which social media (apps or websites) your child uses. Create your own social media accounts and add your child as a friend/follower.)

Most technology features have positives and negatives. Location services are a good example of this. On one hand, location services can be a useful way to monitor your child’s phone location – there are GPS tracking apps that can be installed for this purpose if desired. But social media location services can broadcast your child’s physical location to the world.

You may want to introduce a communal charging station at home where devices are placed at the end of the day to avoid late night use of devices in bedrooms.

Be Proactive

Encourage your child to be open with you about being online. Often, the fear of losing access to social media is why children are hesitant about talking with their parents/legal guardians about online issues. Teach them how to take a screen shot on their device, so they can capture evidence of cyberbullying/inappropriate use.

Take a proactive approach and establish clear and agreed rules for internet use. This may include, at any given moment, your child hand you their device for you to view. Establishing a clear agreement with your child ensures you all understand the rules/arrangements for use.

If your child thinks they are being bullied, or encounters offensive online content, encourage them to find someone they feel safe talking to, such as yourself, a relative, a teacher or a trusted adult. Parents/Legal Guardians can help their child ignore, report and block the other person. Encourage your child to never bully back. Promote positive bystander behaviour. Work with your child ahead of time to come up with safe ways to stand up to any online abuse they may witness. Remember, if you wouldn't say it out loud or in front of an adult, don't say it online.

When your child connects their device to the school network, the filtering system protects them from inappropriate websites. To help protect your child when they return to your home internet connection, it is recommended you install some level of internet filtering.

With regards to any online bullying/harassment etc between students at the College, the College can only investigate the incident if it causes disharmony on campus and cannot be held responsible for the actions of students after hours.

The fastest and easiest way to remove online content is to ask the person responsible to remove it. If you don’t know who the person responsible is, or if they refuse to delete it, you can report the content to the social media administrators for review and possible removal. Below I have included some useful links should the need arise

Cyber Safety Solutions: https://www.cybersafetysolutions.com.au/downloads/Internet-Safety-Tips-for-Teachers-Parents-and-Caregivers.pdf

Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner: https://www.esafety.gov.au

Wishing you all a well-deserved blessed break.

Helen Del Frate

Dean of Students