Community Messages

Cyber Safety Update and Resources

The below information for families is directly from the Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police through the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is seeing a concerning global trend of teenage males being targeted to send explicit images of themselves and then blackmailed. This is called sexual extortion, or sextortion.

The AFP is urging families to have important safety conversations ahead of the school holidays to prevent young people from becoming victim. This crime can have serious wellbeing and psychological impacts.

How does sextortion start?

Unsolicited friend and follow requests on social media
Direct messages on one app and then being asked to keep chatting on a secondary app
Conversations suddenly and quickly becoming sexualised
Requests for sexualised images or content.

What can families do?

Have open and regular conversations about your child’s online activities and interactions
Know what platforms, apps and games they are using and who they are interacting with
Remain open and approachable, victims will be reluctant to come forward if they feel they will be punished or blamed
Ensure your child knows that it is okay to leave conversations if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe
Support your child and know how to respond. The Online blackmail and sexual extortion response kit has been created to recognise sextortion and get help.

The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is here to keep young people safe from online sexual exploitation and abuse.

You can make a report via accce.gov.au/report

For further information, resources and advice visit thinkuknow.org.au

Cyber Awareness Night

All students have, over the past month, been engaged in a Cyber Awareness session run by a certified eSafety provider. These tailored sessions have addressed common issues such as Cyberbullying, Digital Balance, and Social Media abuse. The sessions were engaging and informative to the students guiding them as how to handle difficult situations online.

Insight was gained into a few strategies to help mitigate some of the negative influences that online activity can bring. Below are a number of direct links to valuable information. Please take some time to explore these resources.

eSafety Commisioner Parent Resource Page

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

eSafety Guide (learn about the latest App, etc and how to protect against issues)

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide

eSafety Report Page

https://www.esafety.gov.au/report

Optus Digital Thumbprint Parent Resources

https://www.digitalthumbprint.com.au/parent-resources/

Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation Report Page

https://www.accce.gov.au/report

David Cracknell

Deputy Principal – ICT and Infrastructure