Leader of Student Wellbeing

The use of phones and social media

Unfortunately the Pastoral Care team often deal with the negative aspects of social media. 'Negative chats’ which start outside of College often, continue at the College, having a detrimental impact on relationships. As well, from an academic point of view, disruption to learning can occur, with students’ concentration and focus reduced.  At McCarthy we promote digital intelligence in the use of mobile phones.

 

In order to facilitate this digital learning, the family environment is seen as the first and main educator when discussing and setting boundaries for online communication. For parents and carers, the recommendations of The Office of the eSafety Commissioner are:

Encouraging the same positive manners that your child would use offline

Avoid responding to negative messages

Emphasise the positives: “I am proud of you not to respond to the negative chats on SnapChat.”

Encourage empathy - try and get your child to see the other perspective

Encourage your child to think critically, “Do you believe everything you see online?”

Remind them to be very careful when making new friends online, eg fake Instagram accounts called “Finstas”, and not to respond to these posts

Presentations from the Police Liaison Officer

As part of our Pastoral Programs, the legal aspects of the digital world were presented to each year group. The following topics were covered tailored to the specific emotional/social development of teenagers:

  • Year 7, 8 and 9 - Social media, sexualised language and bullying behaviour
  • Year 10 - Safe Partying, social media and sexualised language
  • Year 11 - Safe Partying and social media

We ask parents/carers to discuss the points raised from the presentation. Further information can be located on the eSafety Commissioner website:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/image-based-abuse/legal-assistance/law-in-my-state-territory

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/staying-safe/sending-nudes-sexting

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/staying-safe/digital-reputation

Mrs Sharon Stuart - Leader of  Student Wellbeing