Dear parents and caregivers,
An ongoing part of your child’s education with us will feature learning about the safe use of technology, including various digital platforms, which will support them to be informed, to develop their health literacy so that they can make the right choices for themselves. Education is provided in both curriculum and our Wings pastoral programs and seeks to reinforce consistent messages for every student. We also have school policies in place to promote the safety and wellbeing of all students and in regard to mobile phones and social media, we have included the following:
During the adolescent years, this can be challenging for some students and therefore there are times that we will additionally meet with students when we have concerns about behaviour. Recently, we have needed to discuss concerns about Tik Tok challenges with some students, and will continue to speak to all students more generally about some of the safety concerns that can be part of using particular apps. As per our mobile phone and social media policies, these are not activities that should ever be occurring or shared on social media, while on school grounds or in our school uniform.
We ask that you have open conversations with your child about their social media use and this might include:
- who they are connecting with
- what they are viewing
- how often are they using social media
- understanding the different features of apps, including age recommendations around various apps
The Carly Ryan Foundation App Fact Sheets are an excellent resource for parents, providing fact sheets about many of the more popular apps that young people may be accessing. For example, the Tik Tok fact sheet lists some of the challenges of using this app, including:
- 12+ content in the songs lyrics. Swearing and adult concepts in the provided music. Pornography, graphic content, suicide notes.
- TikTok offers a live feature for users with 1000+ followers on their profile. This service is intended for ages 16+.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Head of House, Head of School, or Leader of Student Wellbeing, Danielle Kemp.
Carlee Mitchell Ben Clark
Head of Senior School Head of Middle School
