Students sometimes tell me that they fear reporting negative behaviours as in their minds it will make the matter worse. Despite this not being reflected in reality, some do fear that this may occur, and it can be a paralysing feeling. Unfortunately, not reporting negative behaviours only serves to condone the behaviour itself and the students exhibiting these behaviours are sadly encouraged to continue. What is important to focus on is that the whole student body is an incredibly powerful force. If the collective group of students acted appropriately to call out their peers and their behavioural choices, it would go a long way to stamping out the low-level niggling behaviours that can fester over time. Students working together with staff can continue to make our College a safe and respectful learning environment for all.

Reporting
If your child has experienced any negative behaviours at the College, it is vital that these matters be reported to staff so that appropriate responses can be undertaken to resolve situations in a timely manner. Below are the appropriate steps in reporting behaviours:

The best practice is for your child to report incidents the nearest staff member so that the mater can be quickly and efficiently resolved. Alternative methods can include reporting to Katrina Ballantyne (College Counsellor), Jodie Biggar (Middle Leader Middle Years) or me for more serious matters.  

Children and Technology at Home
The family home should be a safe place for children. A place where they can switch off from the outside world, leave their worries behind. A place to refresh and prepare for the next new day. At least, this once was the case. We now live in a time where technology opens the door for the outside worries to infiltrate our home. The internet, online games, and social media allow everyone we know and plenty of people we don’t into our homes. That is a scary thought.

Parents would not ordinarily allow a complete stranger to walk into the family home, sit on the couch and start talking to their child about any topic they choose. Even more, this stranger would never be permitted to enter a child’s bedroom at night. Unfortunately, this is a scenario that technology can create in the home.

This intrusion into a child’s safe space – the home – is affecting our children, and it’s a reminder that parents need to set up boundaries for technology in the home to protect their children. Technology in a child’s bedroom is simply a bad idea.

One study has found that children who use devices at bedtime sleep less, get poorer quality sleep and are more tired during the day than kids who switch off earlier.

(Click link to read more on this study: Association Between Portable Screen-Based Media Device Access or Use and Sleep Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis | Adolescent Medicine | JAMA Pediatrics | JAMA Network)

Another study goes further to state that it is not just using the devices that interrupts sleep. Even children with a phone or a tablet device in their room, without using it at bedtime or during the night, still had poor quality sleep.

(Click link to read more on this study: A ban on screens in bedrooms may save kids’ sleep | Science News)

Furthermore, if a child is using a device in the privacy of the bedroom, there is no way of knowing who they are talking to, about what topics, or at what time of the night. Please talk to your child about technology in the home and establish clear and precise boundaries to protect them from strangers, the troubles of the world and allow them to get better rest in preparation for the next day.

Craig Cullen

Assistant Principal Middle Years