Assistant Principal's 

Report

A Safer Online Space for Wedderburn College Students

At Wedderburn College, students learn and grow as part of a close community. Supporting one another means looking after each other online as well as at school. One way families can do this is by encouraging students under 16 to wait before using social media—and by talking openly about the pressures of group chats.

Social media can make it easy to compare ourselves with others. Photos and posts often show only carefully chosen moments, which can leave young people feeling that everyone else is happier, more popular, or having more fun. Notifications and endless scrolling can also make it harder to concentrate on schoolwork, get enough sleep, and enjoy time away from screens.

Group chats can bring their own challenges. Messages can be misunderstood without tone or facial expressions, and jokes can quickly turn hurtful. Students may feel pressured to reply straight away, join in with unkind comments, or worry about being left out. Screenshots and forwarded messages can also spread beyond the original chat, making private conversations difficult to take back. Often what happens on the weekends in group chats, finds its way into school on Monday, causing disruptions and unrest amongst our students.

This isn’t about cutting young people off from their friends. It’s about giving them time to build confidence, judgment, and healthy boundaries before managing the constant demands of social media. Families can help by setting age-appropriate limits, keeping devices out of bedrooms at night, and listening calmly when students share concerns.

Students can help make online spaces kinder by pausing before sending a message, not forwarding private content, and checking in with someone who seems to be having a hard time. If a chat becomes upsetting or someone is being targeted, students should reach out to a trusted adult at home or at Wedderburn College.

A strong school community looks out for people both online and face to face. By working together, students, families, and staff can help make sure technology supports connection rather than causing harm.