On Tuesday, Stage 3 were visited by Senior Constable Natalie Maher from Harbourside LAC to speak about Cyberbullying and the appropriate use of digital technology with the students.
It was an extremely valuable presentation and we will be looking at how we can work together with our local police to assist us in educating students about digital citizenship and the correct use of digital technology both at home and at school.
"Senior Constable Natalie Maher came in to talk to us about Safety on technology. Senior Constable Maher works in the Police Force and talks to students about the importance and the impact not only towards the effect Social Media can have, but the effect that apps or even websites can have on an individual or a wide variety of students.
The importance of safety and thinking about what you do on the internet or on your devices is really major especially once you grow older and experience new things. Some Social Media apps like Instagram, Musical.ly, Facebook, Snapchat and other age limited interaction tools can result in Cyber Bullying or people finding out personal information.
As an expression says “A picture can show 1000 words”. Social Media, apps, websites or any interactive technology means that this expression is accurate. Senior Constable Maher also told us that whenever we feel uncomfortable with incidents or something that is happening it is always the right idea to inform the Police, Teachers or Guardians at all times.
Sometimes small can turn into something big if you don’t react quick enough! It was a pleasure to have Senior Constable Maher visit our class and warn us about the consequences of what can happen if we are not careful and I am sure everyone will take this warning into consideration."
- Georgina Reddacliff, Year 6
"Senior Constable Natalie Maher from the North Sydney Police come to talk to us about cyber safety. The aim of her visit was to re educate the Year 6's and emphasise the consequences and problems that occur through cyber bullying.
She began by talking to us about the acronym THINK. This acronym stands for
Is it True?
Is it Helpful or Hidden?
Is it Inspiring or Interesting?
Is it Necessary?
Is it Kind?
Afterwards, we spoke about the importance of knowing that nothing ever gets deleted once it's posted. She told us that before you post something on a social media website you need to be comfortable in showing your parents what the post is. We also discussed that you want to know who has access to your social media accounts - from this we learnt that every photo has its location data hidden in it. This helped us to understand the importance of knowing who has access to our accounts.
Before Senior Constable Maher left, we were taught the age limits for certain social media websites. It was surprising how many kids were disobeying the law. Did you know that you have to be 13 to have Instagram or Snapchat and 12 to have Musical.ly?
The outcome of this visit was to prepare Year 6 about the real world and that no matter how hard people try to protect us, we are going to need to stand on our own feet and take responsibility for the actions we have do through social media. As social media becomes more and more necessary, we need to know how to report bullying and defend ourselves in these situations. It was great to have Senior Constable Maher visit us and it was really very beneficial for all of Year 6."
- Sophie Rudd, Year 6
"Senior Constable Natalie Maher came to teach us about cyberbullying and social media websites and what we need to be aware of for our future. She started off by talking about a phrase called THINK which made us wonder if social media is kind, necessary, helpful, true or inspiring.
Then Senior Constable Maher explained the main concepts on cyberbullying and the impacts that can have on people who don't do the right thing by cyberbullying. She gave us some realistic examples of cyberbullying and some helpful tips of how this can be stopped in positive ways. And finally she went over the age limits for social media websites that included Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc.
Senior Constable Maher told us that we needed to be aware of the consequences using social media websites with our actions and responsibility. Overall we learnt lots from Senior Constable Maher and we thank her for teaching us and raising awareness for students and teachers on how to become a more safer and happier person."
- Eliane Champ, Year 6
