Generative Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Bullying
What Parents Can Do To Help, contributed by St Stephen's Catholic College Guidance Counsellors
As we enter new and unfamiliar technological ground, an old saying may yet still be the best way to start this article – ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. When we consider this piece’s topic – Generative AI and Cyber Bullying: What parents can do to help – it is worth noting that some basic measures could still be the best way to begin to address this emerging issue.
Just this month, a teenage schoolboy has been arrested after he used Generative AI to create and post to social media fake explicit nude images of 50 female students from grades 9 to 12 at Bacchus Marsh Grammar. Similarly, last month a student from Salesian College was expelled after he used an AI app to produce explicit images of a female teacher. We could go on; however, any quick search online will alert you to the ever-growing frequency and severity of these events.
Such is the emergent nature of this issue, the Federal Government announced in May that it will introduce legislation to ban the creation and sharing of deepfake pornography as part of measures to combat violence against women. However, laws and legislation can only act as a deterrent and in effect only address the issue after it has happened. How can we as parents proactively address the problem, so it doesn’t even start? In other words – and getting back to that old saying – what can we do to be that ounce of prevention?
Well, that is what this article is aimed at, with weblinks and information below to inform parents about what they can do and where they can access more information. You will note that some of the resources below are from our very own College Portal – School TV – which is readily available to all parents to help inform you about all sorts of issues, not just this one. We encourage you to check it out via this link - https://sscc.qld.schooltv.me/
To begin, let’s go straight to the Government’s e-Safety site - https://www.esafety.gov.au/ - which is your one-stop shop, covering issues such as: parental controls, downloadable resources, sending nudes and texts, cyberbullying, parent webinars, the hard-to-have conversations, reporting cyberbullying, amongst others.
Further, from the e-Safety Commissioner, specifically looking at what Generative AI is –
https://www.esafety.gov.au/industry/tech-trends-and-challenges/generative-ai
Next, the Dolly’s Dream website – ‘Generative Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Bullying’ - https://www.dollysdream.org.au/blog/generative-artificial-intelligence-and-cyber-bullying
Then we have related School TV articles -
School TV Special Report – Cyberbullying - https://sscc.qld.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/cyberbullying-special-report
School TV Newsletter Article – Cyber Bullying - https://sscc.qld.schooltv.me/newsletter/cyber-bullying
School TV Newsletter Article – Online Pornography - https://sscc.qld.schooltv.me/newsletter/pornography
School TV Newsletter Article – Respectful Relationships - https://sscc.qld.schooltv.me/newsletter/respectful-relationships
Perhaps the oldest and still most relevant protective factor now and into the future is having a trusting relationship with your child. One in which they feel safe to come to talk to you about anything, and in which they are willing to hear you out as a trusted source of love and advice. Having that relationship means you as a parent can sit down to have those difficult conversations about intimate and respectful relationships - including their use of social media. We hope these sites might help prepare you for those conversations –
https://www.mamamia.com.au/fed-digital-storytelling/
https://www.unicef.org.au/parent-teacher-resources/online-safety/social-media
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/social-media-smarts.html
https://santamaria.wa.edu.au/my-teen-and-social-media-from-conflict-to-connection/
https://connectsafely.org/allguides/
We hope this article has been useful. If you have any resources and sites you can share with us to expand our knowledge on this emerging topic, please let us know.
Many thanks,
Peter Graham, Katharina Lane and Havva Murat-Maksuti
Guidance Counsellors