A school principal fed up with cyber-bullying has used his usually sedate newsletter column to send a blunt message to parents.
“GET YOUR KIDS OFF FACEBOOK. This verbal sewer is harming your children”.
This is the warning sent by headmaster Chris Duncan of Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, in Tweed Heads who used the school newsletter to issue his warning to parents.
Cyber bullying is a growing problem in many schools, with parents oblivious to the suffering and depression that some of the children are going through because of the way social media sites are being used by pupils.
Headmaster Mr Chris Duncan
Image source: Daily News
Mr Duncan told the Daily News that he usually writes articles on education or school issues. However with a recent case of bullying via Facebook still fresh in his mind he asked himself the question “do parents know what their kids are doing on Facebook?’ and decided to caution them about potential harms.
“It was one of those reflex actions,” said Mr Duncan. “I put it [the newsletter] out and thought this is going to offend half of the school community, but the feedback I’ve had is overwhelmingly positive.”
Susan McLean, cyber safety expert and Generation Next speaker said “Today’s parents grew up in a world devoid of these technologies. They often have little knowledge on how best to assist and guide them and when interest or concern is shown, suspicious kids ‘fob’ them off with the typical responses of ‘You won’t understand…..’ ‘Go away its private……’or ‘You have no idea…..”
“Don’t be afraid of technology. Learn about it and embrace it as your children do.
Accept that they will access content that might upset them, often not because they went looking for it and make sure that they are comfortable coming to you when this happens. Spend time online with them. Cyberspace can be a lot of fun.”
Mr Duncan said he was aware of students who had been sent into an “appalling state” due to abuse they received on Facebook, with some children being more vulnerable than others.
“Some kids deal with it really well and other kids are mortally wounded by it and it’s just the way different kids react to things,” he said.
“I and all of my colleague principals around the country, deal with very distressed young people and very distressed parents who have been subjected to what I would call tirades of verbal abuse on Facebook.”
Mr Duncan is known for his nil tolerance of bullying. Last year he expelled two students due to serious cases of online harassment.
He urged parents to be proactive in their dealings with Facebook “My concern is parents are not overly aware of what their kids are subjected to until it gets to the point you’ve got a very distressed, abused young person.”
“Certainly if they’ve got primary school age kids they shouldn’t be on Facebook for a start and with teenage kids they should be aware of what they’re doing, or limit their time on the computer at least.”
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald. Cybersafety.
Well he went public with his rant so I will go public with my criticism. Mr Duncan believes/claims he is doing something to protect his students. He is a Principal and should know better. If he ‘teaches’ parents to fear and ban this tool, less kids will be educated on how to use it appropriately and protect themselves from the risks associated with it.
Mr Duncan now has lots of publicity and he may even have a stronger position with the school council or equivalent. All at the cost of failing to carry out his duty to educate children about something that is potentially harmful and used by a majority of teenagers. I believe Mr Duncan has placed his own ego and agenda ahead of the needs of his students.
Why is Facebook a verbal sewer Mr Duncan? Is it because the majority of parents and educators of children are not providing clear, consistent and rational guidance on how to appropriately use social media?
Pretty strong words from Principal Duncan! He is obviously frustrated by the problems the site is causing some of his students. It’s great he cares. But I imagine it would be a tough job getting most kids off Facebook. There are lots of guidelines available to help you help your teens use Facebook to minimise potential problems (we have one at our site). We also had a reader comment that when her son reduced his ‘friends’ list to just his real friends, Facebook became a much nice place to be.
Good article and sound advice. It is important that parents understand what they are doing when they allow their children under age, to access these sites. It actually is lying and as such should contravene their values. Instead they teach their children another value…it doesn’t matter if you lie about somethings.
I would love to be able to expell students for eAbuse or bullying rather than have to work through it with everyone and try to change behaviour. As a government school we have to take all comers. There is no where else for them to go and what’s more the rest of the enrolment needs to learn to deal with them as well…just like in the world in which they will soon be an adult.
I had to pinch myself when I heard Mr Duncan on ABC radio speaking on a platform of anti-bullying/anti-Facebook.
As a parent, I endured numerous first hand experiences attempting (unsuccessfully) to negotiate a risk management plan to address occurrences of physical and psychological bullying at this school.
Children are safe online, including on Facebook, provided they are supervised, educated about potential risks and guided in terms of appropriate behaviour…much like what we expect of schools when children are in their care.
Face Book is not an appropriate vehicle for children I would suggest it is an adult activity and certainly should be age restricted. 16 might be an appropriate age. It is dangerous in the hands on children. My experience is that it too often leads to violence, stress and hatred not social connectivity.