The growing use of social media by young people has redefined how teenagers interact with each other and their community.

For most teenagers it is a way of keeping in touch with friends, but for some it is a powerful tool capable of inflicting great pain and anguish. Social media networking sites such as Facebook, Formspring and Tumblr give teenagers the opportunity to bully other young people from a safe distance. Scathing remarks posted online can leave deep scars.

Many schools are now extending their realm of governance to include monitoring what their students are saying on social networking sites as a way of countering cyber-bullying.

Susan McLean, Cyber safety expert and Generation Next speaker, said  “Previously schools did not become involved in things that occurred ‘out of hours.’ It was not their business or concern, however with cyber bullying, harassment and sexting, where the parties involved are often from within the same school or neighbouring schools, the problem is firmly thrust into the hands of the school accompanied by the often unrealistic expectations from parents, that they ‘solve’ the problem.”

The typical service used by schools such as Ascham looks at any publicly available material posted on social networking sites.

At Ascham school, the director of students for years 11 and 12, Frances Booth, said: “We know it’s become pretty much the essential way of communicating for this generation of students and we understand it’s a big part of their lives. But we’re also aware of the dangers that can come from unrestrained use.”

“They’re aware we keep an eye on what they’re up to. All we want is for them to be safe.”

James Griffin, a partner in SR7 provides such a monitoring service. He said “We go where the conversations are, where young people or communities of interest are coalescing online.” He confirmed that his company’s service did not intercept private messages.

Until now schools were reluctant to venture into what they considered to be parental territory. However that is now changing, Stephen Harris the principal of Northern Beaches Christian School told the Sydney Morning Herald that “Our school policy now extends the concept of the school playground to any environment in the social media platform where a student of the school or a teacher is identified by either name, image or inference.”

“If the out-of-hours harassment is an extension of school relationships or a school event, that is [considered] part of the school day,” said Lila Mularczyk, deputy president of the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council.

Mr Griffin, of SR7, said schools must act out of a duty of care to their students.”Social media and cyber-bullying is simply an issue of the modern day that schools have to acknowledge and understand they can do something about.”

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: They Sydney Morning Herald