Assistant 

Principal News Flash 

Stephanie Di Salvo, Dan Moloney & Eva Primarolo

Safety Message from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation 

The Australian Federal Police through the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is seeing a concerning global trend of teenage males being targeted to send explicit images of themselves and then blackmailed. This is called sexual extortion, or sextortion.  The AFP is urging families to have important safety conversations ahead of the school holidays to prevent young people from becoming victims. This crime can have serious well-being and psychological impacts.

How does sextortion start?

· Unsolicited friend and follow requests on social media

· Direct messages on one app and then being asked to keep chatting on a secondary app

· Conversations suddenly and quickly becoming sexualised

· Requests for sexualised images or content.

What can families do?

· Have open and regular conversations about your child’s online activities and interactions

· Know what platforms, apps and games they are using and who they are interacting with

· Remain open and approachable, victims will be reluctant to come forward if they feel they 

   will be punished or blamed

· Ensure your child knows that it is okay to leave conversations if they feel uncomfortable or 

   unsafe 

· Support your child and know how to respond. Online blackmail and sexual extortion 

   response kit has been created to recognise sextortion and get help.

The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is here to keep young people safe from online sexual exploitation and abuse. You can make a report via accce.gov.au/report. For further information, resources and advice visit thinkuknow.org.au.

Parent Buddy Program 2023

Under this new program, we will match you with a new parent/carer so you can show them the ropes and support them where needed.  We encourage you to reach out to the new family, for example by organising to meet up for a playdate over the holidays or a phone call to check in during the school term. New families will be able to decide how much interaction they choose to have with you. We hope the impact of this parent buddy program will be a positive one not just for families settling into our school, but for parents who are moving into a new community. 

If you would like to volunteer to be a parent buddy, please call Eva Primarolo at 0409 534 193. We will be in touch with you to confirm your buddy. Thank you for welcoming our students and their families and helping them to settle into JSA in a caring and supportive way.