From the Assistant Principal
Why I'm Glad I'm Not Growing Up in 2026
Okay. Even though nobody has asked me for it, I present to you:
A Life with Technology: Why I'm Glad I'm Not Growing Up in 2026
Some of you will remember the moments written here too, but as I compare them with what children are experiencing now, I can't say I envy your position as parents navigating the slippery slope of technology.
How we used technology in the early 2000s was absolutely ground-breaking.
The idea that all knowledge, the kind of knowledge securely sealed in an Encarta CD-ROM, would be available anywhere and anytime was almost impossible to imagine. We've taken advantage of this. (I try my best to use my brain to recall random facts rather than googling them. What is the name of that actress who was in both Mean Girls and Mamma Mia!? It's somewhere in my brain... Amanda something...)
Young people are growing up in this kind of world; a world where technology and answers are everywhere and available at any time. Unfortunately, the worst place for this is the bedroom.
If there is one thing you take from this rambling article, take this: do not allow your children to have access to the internet in their bedrooms. There is too much that can go wrong.
In one of my earliest memories, back in 1992 as a four-year-old, I distinctly remember driving over the West Gate Bridge with a brand new copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo in my lap.
This game literally (and I'm not exaggerating here) forced me to learn how to read. Because books weren't my jam. But Zelda was. It was me against the digital bad guys.
Gaming for young people now is all about playing with each other, connecting and communicating with real people. The challenge is that when children log on today, they aren't just entering a game. They're entering a social world. They are talking, collaborating, competing, and sometimes arguing with people they know, and people they don't.
The opportunities are incredible, but so are the risks. When gaming follows children everywhere, there is no longer a clear line between online life and real life.
And maybe I'm the only one who remembers the days when MSN Messenger and MySpace ruled the interweb, but I'm going to write about it and assume everyone who is reading is nodding along in agreement.
I remember it as innocent, but I definitely remember moments of anxiety when somebody didn't reply, when your status update was ignored, or when you realised a conversation was happening without you.
We also got ourselves into a little trouble when we changed our Top 8 friends and inevitably left someone out in the cold. It was the beginning of what became cyberbullying, and as time passes young people are only becoming more connected, more visible, and more exposed.
The playground used to have opening and closing hours.
Social media doesn't.
Friendship dramas, disagreements, and unkind comments can now follow children home, into the car, onto holidays and, most concerningly, into their bedrooms.
So there is one question that needs to be answered. It needs to be asked every day.
Do you know what your child is actually doing on technology?
We've asked the kids and they say... you don't, really. Sometimes you do. But even then, you don't, really.
And I can guarantee my parents didn't know what I was doing on technology as a young person (but at least it wasn't quite as dangerous).
It's a world that is only going to become more clouded.
The challenge for parents isn't keeping up with every new app, game, or piece of technology. That's impossible.
The challenge is staying curious, staying involved, and keeping the conversation going.
Because while the technology keeps changing, one thing hasn't changed at all:
Children still need adults who know where they are, who they're talking to, and what they're doing.
The only difference is that now, some of those places exist behind a screen.
Mat Williamson
Assistant Principal (and still can't believe I used to spend $2.99 on ringtones for a phone that now lives permanently on silent)