Cyber Safety

Thank you, Cyber Safety Project, for your recent webinar, ‘Safety on the Socials’ which gave us wonderful insight into how we can support our children to be safe on popular social media platforms like Discord, Snapchat, TikTok, BeReal and Instagram. If you missed the webinar, you can access it and others here.

One key message was around default privacy settings and being aware that the platform itself may not safeguard your child in the way that you would. Updating privacy settings regularly is crucial to maintaining a secure online environment and to control who can message your child, see their location and content. They can do this themselves or with guidance from you.

Using a function such as Family Sharing (Apple) or Family Link (Android) on mobile phones and devices is another way you can support your child to develop a healthy relationship with online platforms. As a parent you can disable or enable settings this way, blocking apps that you don’t want your child to access and to restrict the time spent on others. Some platforms themselves have wellbeing settings built into their programming. It is always best to pray and talk with your child about their use and understanding of social media, educating them on the good and the challenging parts! Simply restricting and removing access altogether may not foster relationship in the household.

If your child has had an experience of bullying or abuse online, help them to report abuse via the app itself. If this is unsuccessful, the eSafety Commission website has parent tools for seeking help and support. The Wellbeing Team at the College is here for you too, you can email us at wellbeing@standrews.vic.edu.au.

The next Cyber Safety Webinar is coming up on Wednesday 26th July – Gaming and Your Family. Put it on your calendar!

mheading@standrews.vic.edu.au

School Refusal

The issue of school refusal is a quickly growing issue that students, parents, and school are collectively dealing with. Often it is an issue that can be overlooked as the stigma associated with school refusal can range from, “They are just sick again”, to “They are just being rebellious and acting out Truancy”. School refusal is much more complex.

School refusal steams for an underlying (or overt) anxiety of the young person in relation to education for a number for different reasons, be it, peers, separation anxiety, learning challenges, relational issues with staff, academic pressure etc.

Early warning signs to look out for in a student who may become a school refuser:

• Struggling to return to school after term breaks or prolonged time away from school
• Displaying symptoms of anxiety in going to school
• Often complains about illness such as stomach issues and headaches
• Avoidance of days associated with exams, test, sporting days, camps etc
• Teary at drop off.
• Anxiety around transition years (Prep, 7 and VCE)

With all of this to say, there is hope! Working collectively with family, student, and school, supports can be put in place to help the young person manage their anxieties while looking at ways to connect the young person back with their education pathway.

If you find you are struggling with issues of school refusal in your family, please feel free to reach out to the Wellbeing team, we would love to start the conversation on how we can best support you and your young person through this season.

Email: mstancliffe@standrews.vic.edu.au
Phone: 8847 8328