Technology Guidelines

What is the role of the school in teaching parents about responsible technology use? Through the school's handbook and website, we publish the guidelines for technology use while the students are at school, but should we also be helping parents to manage their child's home use of technology? Through newsletter articles, information evenings, expert seminars and parent teacher meetings we could be helping parents to become more aware about some of the negative aspects of technology such as internet addiction and cyberbullying. The school is also in a good position to share with families information about the latest trends for young people using technology - online gaming sites, MSN, MySpace and other social networking tools.

Government programs such as the newly published Click, Netalert and Cybersmart Kids, the study into media and communication use by young people published by ACMA last year and recent articles on Internet use written by child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg are especially useful resources which schools can help to promote and share with families. As the volume of user generated content on the web grows (Youtube, podcasts, blogs), the need for guidelines to help children and their parents use this resource responsibly and safely also increases. I believe that schools should be taking the lead in educating their community.