20 Nov 2019
Learnings from the Safe on Social Seminar by Brooke Boon and Chloe Mann, Year 8
Staying safe on social media is vital for all users. Ever since social media took the world by storm in 1997, it has caused controversial events and stories, both positive and negative.
On the 7th of November, students from Year 7 to 10 participated in a Safe on Social presentation faciliatated by Kirra from Safe on Social. Her presentation covered cyber safety, stranger danger (grooming), managing digital footprints positively, online gaming and privacy settings. Students were encouraged to take out their phones there and then to change their privacy settings for greater safety.
Kirra shared with students about the risks associated with different apps students use every day like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook. She also gave us practical strategies we can use to take responsibilty for our own safety and the safety of our peers online.
The staff of CCWTC also participated in a very similar presentation on Tuesday night the 5th of November, to educate them on how to protect themselves and those in their care. They also learnt how to help students if they ever come across a serious problem on social media.
Parents also had the oppotunity to hear Kirra present at a parent seminar hosted by our College P&C. Kirra said that parents can inadvertedly put their child's safety at risk by sharing photos, videos and captions about their child on public social media accounts. By revealing so much of their children’s personal information, a stranger could know more about the child(ren) than a friend or relative, which gives any stranger an opportunity to kidnap or stalk children. Parents need to understand and be more aware on how exposing just a little bit of information could lead to dealing with serious consequences.