Kay Bradley

Group Chats

Over the past few years, we have become involved in behaviour issues that have begun and/or been exacerbated from student group chats taking place on devices, at home.  These chats although not occurring at school can have negative impacts on the learning at school.

In recent years, some of the transcripts that distressed parents have provided have included:

• exclusion where children are ‘invited’ or ‘thrown out’ of class groups.
• bullying; name calling, memes, racist or sexist comments.
• bystander behaviour, when a student is being repeatedly targeted, but others ‘say’ nothing.
• promiscuous language and misogynistic content.

I am aware that many students tell parents that they will be excluded socially if they do not join ‘the chat’.  I am also aware that many parents do not like the chats and/or are not aware of the content.

Our advice is and has always been that all our students are too young for this type of online interaction. They are still developing socially and mistakes made on devices can have long lasting implications.

Suggestions

If you feel that your child must be on a group chat, then frequently review the content.  Knowing that adults are ‘watching’ can often curtail inappropriate content. Be watchful for chats that are shut down and reopened under a new name.

Limit the number of friends your child is allowed to chat with, to close friends who they see on the weekends and are welcome in your home.

Help you child stay out of the chats by managing contacts and messaging.  This will stop your child from being added back into groups. By carefully managing settings, you can control who your child communicates with and reduce their exposure to group messaging. Regularly review and update these settings as needed to ensure your child’s online interactions remain safe and appropriate.

Finally, remember that many of New Farm parents feel the same as you and ‘everyone else’s parents are fine with it’ may not be true.

Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Contacts and Messaging on Apple Devices:

1. Set Up Screen Time:

• • Open the Settings app on your device or your child’s iPad.
  • Tap Screen Time.
  • If you haven’t already, tap Turn On Screen Time, then tap Continue.
  • Choose This is My Child’s iPad.

2. Create a Screen Time Passcode:

• Tap Use Screen Time Passcode, then enter a passcode. Re-enter the passcode to confirm. This passcode should be known only to you.

3. Set Up Communication Limits:

• • In Screen Time, tap Communication Limits.
  • You will see options for During Screen Time and During Downtime.
  • Set both to Contacts Only to ensure your child can only communicate with people in their contacts.

4. Manage Your Child’s Contacts:

• • Under Communication Limits, enable Manage [Child's Name] Contacts.
  • This allows you to control who can be added or removed from your child’s contact list.
  • Make sure Allow Contact Editing is turned off to prevent your child from adding or editing contacts without your approval.

5. Prevent Group Messaging:

• • Unfortunately, there is no direct setting to block group messages specifically. However, by managing contacts and keeping a limited and approved contact list, you can significantly reduce the chances of your child being added to unwanted group messages.

6. Restrict Messaging Apps:

• • Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
  • Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions.
  • Under Content Restrictions, ensure that apps are rated appropriately for your child’s age group select Australia 15+

7. Additional Content & Privacy Restrictions:

• • Navigate to Content & Privacy Restrictions > iTunes & App Store Purchases.
  • Set Installing Apps to Don’t Allow to prevent new messaging apps from being downloaded.
  • In Content Restrictions, set appropriate content limits for apps, web content, and more.
    Under Game Centre, restrict multiplayer games, adding friends, and other interactive features.

Resources

To support you in managing your child's online activity, we recommend the following resources from the Australian eSafety Commissioner:

• eSafety Parents
• Online Safety Basics

Drop Off/Pick Up Zone

Just a reminder that u-turning from our Pick up/Drop off Zone and turning right is prohibited.  Traffic police have informed us they will be monitoring this zone.