Last night was the first of our Parent Seminars, and the presentation by Julie Inman Grant and Kellie Britnell from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner was outstanding. We are deeply grateful for their time and expertise.
There is no way to reproduce in a newsletter the content covered in an hour-long seminar followed by 30 minutes of Q&A, but here are a few key points you may find useful if you missed the presentation:
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Australia is the only country in the world to have a government agency for the purpose of protecting adults and children online.
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A key power of the Commissioner is to require removal of offensive or harmful content of various kinds. The scope of this is continually adapting – for instance, after the recent livestreaming of the Christchurch shootings, it was expanded to include the removal of excessively violent material.
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If you, or someone you know, are subjected to bullying, abuse or offensive behaviour online, you can report it here.
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They have a high success rate – around 85% – in getting abusive or offensive content removed. This makes them a superb source of assistance when these highly distressing incidents arise. I also reminded the audience that schools can be of assistance and it is common for staff from different schools to co-operate to resolve an incident.
The presentation addressed a wide range of issues but perhaps it is best to point you to their website which has a wealth of resources, including a Screen Smart Parent Tour which introduces parents to key issues such as cyberbullying, social media, managing personal information etc; does some myth-busting (for example, contrary to widespread impression only 5% of young people have sent an intimate image to another, ie it’s still not ‘normal’!); and provides a huge range of guides and informative resources.
If I were to single out one essential strategy for parents wanting to protect their children online, it would be having those awkward conversations now, while everything is going well. There is specific, age-appropriate advice on the website about starting the conversation about issues such as cyberbullying, online pornography, sending nudes and sexting, and unwanted contact and grooming.
These are certainly awkward conversations to have and we all hope our girls will avoid mistakes (and we work towards equipping them to do so). Inevitably, however, some mistakes will be made. In that case, our girls are even more vulnerable if they feel that they can’t ask us for help. Starting the conversation now will open the channel of communication and help them feel that they can ask for help if and when they need it.
If a young person does something stupid, too often imagined consequences overwhelm their desire to seek help. They are so worried about the potential punishments, so sick with the potential humiliation, so anxious about disappointing us, that they try to cope on their own, feeling scared and totally isolated. The result is heightened distress and increased risk.
So perhaps this weekend you can take the time to tell your daughter this: No matter what happens, and no matter what you’ve done, I will be there for you. There is nothing so bad that I won’t come to help you.
We like to think that these things can go unsaid, but one day you and your daughter might be grateful that you took the time to say it out loud.
Ms Elizabeth Stone
Principal