Last week Swan Christian College hosted Rachel Downie founder and Director of Stymie.com.au. Rachel is also accredited by the eSafety commissioner to speak on cyber safety.
Stymie is a website that allows children to make an anonymous notification to the College if they observe bullying or any other type of behavior that affects their own or another child’s safety and wellbeing whether in the real world or online.
Rachel developed the website after a serious incident at a school she was teaching at which could have been prevented if somebody who knew about the situation had come forward. While we encourage children to speak up and Stymie does not replace speaking to a trusted adult, children sometimes do not feel they are able to do this. Stymie provides a way to notify adults who can intervene and help.
Further information regarding Stymie can be found at about.stymie.com.au. I encourage parents of children from Year 5 to 11 to sit down with their child and ask them to show you how the system works.
Rachel spoke to parents at length on the current cybersafety trends and threats. Two important takeaways for me were that firstly, as parents, we should sit down with our children when they play games to see what happens in the games. We provide them with the opportunity to use technology, so we have a responsibility to ensure that they are safe and are using it appropriately. Secondly, any app platform or game that allows our children to interact with people they don’t know can expose our children to predators.
The appropriate use of technology at home can lead to friction so I have included a family technology charter provided to the school by Rachel that may be of use to parents:
Our next parent presentation will be on Tuesday 26 June by an organisation called Sideffect on the dangers of synthetic drugs.
Further information about this evening will be communicated to parents over the coming weeks.
Mr Terry Eason
Deputy Principal
