Digital Lives
Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students 7-12
Social media
In the 2020 report Digital Lives of Aussie Teens by the eSafety Commissioner it was found that:
- Teens spend an average of 14.4 hours per week online.
- Teens used an average of four different social media services – YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat remain the most popular. TikTok has shown the greatest growth, from 12% in 2017 to 38% in 2020.
- 44% of teens had a negative online experience.
With so many young people experiencing negative online experiences, here are a few things that your child can do to protect themselves online.
- Check their privacy settings.
- Do not accept friend requests from strangers.
- Remember – once posted/commented, always posted/commented.
- Their online reputation is their ‘profile’ – how do they want to be seen?
- BE KIND.
Potentially harmful apps
Below are a list of social media apps that you and your children should be careful of:
- YOLO – The app allows users to answer questions posted to Snapchat stories anonymously. The messages or replies are completely anonymous. Anonymity creates a lack of accountability that allows for bad behaviour.
- TikTok – The app is used by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy and lip-syncing. The main thing to be aware of is that by default, all accounts are set to public so strangers can contact your children. Privacy settings can be changed so only friends can access content.
- Zoomerang – This is a simple video creator that allows you to capture short videos, apply filters, and add special effects and background music. A concern about this app is that it is easy to screenshot portions of a video to manipulate them and to take brief moments out of context. Cyberbullying has occurred regularly using this tactic.
For more information you can visit the following article “A Complete Guide to Potentially Dangerous Apps for Kids.”
Other useful resources:
- Cybersafety Series on School TV for parents
- eSafety Commissioner for parents
Camp
This week I have been on camp with Year 7, Year 8 and the Year 11 Peer Support leaders. It was great to see students build resilience as they pushed themselves out of their comfort zones, by sleeping in tents, and through amazing activities such as canoeing down the beautiful Colo River, hiking along fire-trial ridges and enjoying the great outdoors. Students also demonstrated their independence through preparing and cooking their own meals, cleaning up after themselves and they should be encouraged to continue to demonstrate this new independence at home.
All students approached each activity with an open mind and bonded with their Tutor Group through the long journeys and evenings spent around a campfire. They have created memories that will last long into High School and probably be spoken about after graduation.
Thank you to the amazing staff who were away from their families and cared for the students around the clock to ensure a memorable and enjoyable camp experience for all.
