McGuire College Newsletter

Student Wellbeing

National Day against Bullying and Domestic Violence

McGuire College will join hundreds of schools around Australia to raise awareness about bullying and domestic violence on Friday March 15th.

The theme of this year’s National Day against Bullying and violence is Bullying. No Way and is an opportunity for Australian schools to highlight their everyday work to counter bullying and violence. All staff will be wearing a Bullying No Way wristband and Stand up to Domestic violence ribbon.

Countering bullying involves the whole community. Each person in the school community has an important role.

2018 research into the bullying problem in Australian schools revealed:

  • Almost 25% (1 in 4) students in Australia or 910,000 students experienced bullying at some stage during their schooling
  • Since 2015 there have been 45 million bullying incidents across all schools each year, instigated by around 543,000 perpetrators.
  • The economic impact of bullying in Australia totals an estimated $2.3 billion while children in school and 20 years after school completion

Some statistics on domestic violence against women:

  • On average one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner
  • On average 1 in 4 women have experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner since the age of 15
  • One in five women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15
  • 85% of women have been sexually harassed
  • Almost 40% of women continued to experience violence from their partner while temporarily separated
  • One in six women have experienced stalking since the age of 15
  • Statistics reveal that domestic violence rates are higher in regional and rural areas

On the 15th of March students and staff will be invited to take the online White ribbon pledge ‘I will stand up, speak out and act to prevent violence against women’. Parents and guardians can access the pledge on https//:www.whiteribborn.org.austop-violence-against-women/take -the-oath

Being Cyber safe

How can you protect your kids if you don’t know where they are? Few parents would let their children wander the streets at all hours or meet with strangers, but kids do that and more on the internet without even leaving their bedrooms.

Do you know the people your daughter chats with online every night? Is your son being cyberbullied? Have you seen the videos your children are downloading? Cybersafety adviser Susan McLean argues that, ‘The internet is the new toilet door and has changed parenting forever ’ .

Leading Australian psychologist Doctor Michael Carr- Gregg (author OF Real Wired child) defines cyber bullying as being:

  • Nasty emails
  • Nasty text messages
  • Instant messages
  • Personal details on websites
  • Student photos online without permission

Doctor Carr-Gregg suggests that parents today  encourage their children to:

  • Remove inappropriate photos
  • Remove flirty nicknames e.g. sxc_babe
  • Remove surnames
  • Set your site to private
  • Remove mobile phone numbers
  • Change profile pics
  • Change email address to non-specific ones

What you can do in general:

  • Take more interest in what your children are doing online
  • Regularly talking to your children online
  • Make internet access conditional on following the family internet rules (no sharing passwords etc.)
  • Monitor the time your children are spending in front of screens (what’s happening after they go to bed?)
  • Teach your children good ‘netiquette’ (be polite, don’t respond to messages)
  • Remember: internet use is a privilege NOT a right
  • Don’t demonise the net. It’s not all evil or stupid
  • Use the net yourself. Become familiar with the websites your children are using (you wouldn’t let your children travel alone offline)
  • Regularly check the history on your internet browser to see where your children have been
  • Monitor the wireless access your kids have at home (I pods, DS Games, PS3,XBOX 360 etc.)

Suggestions for consequences

  • Don’t freak out!
  • Get the facts first
  • Punishment should be immediate, enforceable and time limited (don’t punish for months on end). Short and sharp is preferable (take the modem to work with you or turn it off each night)
  • Don’t be held to ransom by your lack of technical knowledge

Best of luck!

Doctors In Schools

McGuire College is very lucky to be involved in the Doctors in Schools Program. Doctors are available to see students every second Wednesday. Please see the Wellbeing Team if you would like more information or to make an appointment