Nicole Thoonen

Student number: s3162704

Student Health and Wellbeing

Assessment Task 1:
Professional learning activity: Cyber-safety
Case study:
Welcome to RMIT Primary school. The Primary school is located in an upper middle class area.
The student population at this school have most of their emotional, physical and mental needs are
met at home. Many of the students come to school clean, fed and eager to learn. (This fictional
school is based on experience at my last two placement schools and is not representative of all
Primary schools) This school has a highly innovative ICT program with ipads being available for
year levels 3-6. This year the school has implemented an ipad program for grades 5 and 6 which
requires parents to purchase personal ipads for their children for them to bring to school. The school
has made arrangements for students if they are unable to cover the upfront cost of an ipad and those
who choose not to purchase can continue to have access to the laptops and ipads at school if
available (Surfside Primary School, 2016). As this is the first year that students will have personal
ipads, policies and procedures are still being worked out but there is a blanket ban on all social
media being used by students (Naidoo, Kritzinger, & Loock, 2013).
This case study focuses on a fictional grade 6 student, Michelle. Michelle is 11 years old, turning 12
in October and comes from an upper middle class family. Her family includes her mother and father
who both work full time (her father works from home) and her older brother Danielle who is in year
9 at the local Secondary School, RMIT Secondary College. Michelle's parents are actively involved
in the school and take a keen interest in their children's education
Social networking sites and applications are blocked by the schools wifi network so students can
not access them while at school. Using the Facebook application and accessing the website are
prohibited at school, however the application Instagram is not explicitly stated. Instagram is also
restricted to those over the age of 13. Michelle upon opening her account, lied about her age in
order to gain access. Michelle has learnt from other students in her class how to access Instagram
using the schools wifi network. Michelle's parents are not aware that she has an Instagram account
and Michelle has left her account public. In her description Michelle has stated where she lives and
she has tagged where she is on some of the photos.
The following incident occurred during a grade 6 Science lesson:
During the lesson, students were using their personal ipads to record their data and take photos
throughout their experiment. Michelle's group decided to take a picture of themselves with the
experiment and then posted it to her Instagram account. The picture clearly shows the school's logo
and tags the Instagram accounts of the other students in the picture. The student's began to write
comment's to each other on the photo and began giggling. The group have also added many
hashtags to the picture which allows the picture to show up on many different lists and attracts the
attention of people they do not know. Strangers begin to comment on the picture stating how hot
and Sexy the students look, with some asking for private information.
This is what drew the attention of the teacher. The teacher then approaches the students to get them
back on task and see's that Michelle is using Instagram and can see that she is engaged in an online
conversation with someone she may not know.
Individual student intervention:
As Michelle has explicitly broken school rules by deliberately unblocking Instagram from the
schools wifi network action needs to be taken. As this is the first time this has happened at the

Nicole Thoonen
Student number: s3162704

school there is no current policy on how the teacher needs to proceed. The teacher decides to pull
Michelle aside and privately explain that as she is using her ipad inappropriately during class time
and that it will need to be placed on the teachers desk and she will need to use another group
members ipad for the rest of the lesson. This is partly due to not wanting to disrupt the whole class
in order to address and also because the teacher needs to follow the cyber safety guidelines as set
out by the Department of Education and Training (2016) which requires the teacher to seek advice
from the team Leader.
Once the class is over, the teacher speaks to their Team Leader and it is decided as school rules were
broken and as there are concerns over Michelle's safety, her parents will need to be informed and a
meeting held at the school to discuss the matter further. Michelle's father is brought in for a meeting
to discuss the concerns they had for her safety regarding her internet use. As per the Departments
guidelines and with the permission of Michelle's father, Michelle has a meeting with the school
counsellor to ascertain information about her internet use (D.E.T, 2016). This meeting is used not as
a way to punish her but to understand how she has been using it, as well as her peers to decided
what further steps need to be taken to ensure the safety of all students in the class and the school.
Many children do not understand the possible dangers associated to social networking sites
(Naidoo, et. al, 2013). In conference with Michelle and her parents, it is decided that her Instagram
account will be suspended until school run cyber-safety lessons can be run and her parents
participate in a parents cyber-safety workshop.
Class intervention:
As Michelle is not the only student using social media platforms, the teacher discusses with the
leadership team a social media safety awareness program for the class. The school has discussed
cyber-safety with students before but because of their ban on students using social media, students
have never been educated on its dangers and how to safely use it. If students are educated in the
ways to safely navigate through the world of social networking, then are less likely to find
themselves in situations where their physical and emotional wellbeing is at stake (Naidoo, et. al,
2013). The idea of the program would also be that if they did find themselves in an unsafe situation,
they would have the skills to be able to recognise and deal with it or be able to recognise when they
need to seek the appropriate help (Chadwick, 2010).
The sessions that the teacher will run with the class on cyber-safety will involve students discussing
how social media can be good and how it has changed things for the better but also how it can be
bad and some of the dangers associated with it. The aim of the sessions will be to highlight the
importance of thinking before 'posting' and being aware of the information you are directly and
indirectly telling other people (Chadwick, 2010). The teacher will run a few different activities with
the students to help stimulate meaningful discussion around cyber-safety. One activity is to have
students take a picture of their teacher holding a piece of paper. On the paper its stated that this
teacher is teaching the students about online safety and if they could please write where they are
from in the comments and share the picture on their page. Permission has been gained from the
principal to use the schools Facebook page as the platform for this activity. The aim of the activity
is to see how quickly and how far a picture can spread online and that once it is on the internet you
lose control of the image.
Another activity for students is this class involves the teacher giving them a variety of images with
one sentence with them. The students are given little detail about the images and must use
information they see in the picture and the writing accompanying it to state what they can state
about the picture and the person who took it. The teacher even makes up a few 'Instagram' posts

Nicole Thoonen
Student number: s3162704

with hashtags for the students to use. The aim of the activity is for students to understand how what
can be posted can be used to find out personal information about themselves they did not know they
were allowing others to see such as school logos.
Whole school approach:
Through discussions with students it is clear that this is not isolated to Michelle's class. Students in
the two other grade 6 classes have also admitted to using social media as well as some student's in
grade 5. The school, in conjunction with the local high school, decides to run an eSmart
Ambassador program similar to the that which is run by Ringwood Secondary College which has
proven successful (D.E.T, 2016). This program involves students at the local high school becoming
ambassadors and talking to students in primary school about what they have learnt about being safe
online. The program has proven successful as students have stated they prefer to learn about cybersafety from older students rather than just their teachers (D.E.T, 2016). Emphasis is placed on the
students 'digital reputation' and how to navigate the world of social networking safely (D.E.T,
2016). The idea behind the program is not to tell students they should use social networking or that
they should not but instead to be aware of the safety issues that surround using it. In the program the
older students talk to the grade 5 and 6's about setting their online profiles up with the appropriate
amount of privacy settings and the amount of control they can have over who is able to view their
online profiles and why they think this is important (Ahn, 2011). The older students also share any
experiences they have had both positive and negative when using popular social networking sites.
As a whole school approach, the school has to decided to be more proactive in their education of
social networking. From foundation through to grade 6 students are educated on what information is
ok to share with friends, family and people they don't know both face to face and in an online
setting. Although using social media will still be forbidden unless under the guidance of a teacher
with permission from the principal while at school, students still need to be educated about it.
Parents/community:
Due to so many students accessing social networking sites and applications and through discussion
with parents and guardians it is decided that a parents, guardians and other members of the
community cyber-safety information session would be greatly beneficial. Many parents are unaware
of the value social networking can have and also the dangers with it (Naidoo, et. al, 2013). The
school recommends that students do not have these accounts until they are over the age of 13 as this
is the minimum age limit for many of these platforms. However if parents decide to let their
children have access to these, they recommend open communication with their child and talking to
them about internet safety (D.E.T, 2016). It is estimated that over 7.5 million Facebook users are
actually under the age of 13 years old, despite Facebook's minimum age requirement being 13 years
old and many have joined with the permission their parents (Roberto, Eden, Savage, RamosSalazar & Deiss, 2014). In these information sessions parents, guardians and community members
will be given a run down on what is actually illegal and safety issues (Naidoo, et. al, 2013). This
can include the possession and distribution of child pornography among other concerns. In the
workshop, the are reminded that even though their children or children in their care may have more
knowledge around technology, it does not mean that they know the risks involved (Naidoo, et. al,
2013). During the information session, videos from the Office of the Children's eSafety
Commissioner (2016) will be played which spark valuable discussion among the group. During this
session a member from the Victorian police will also be present to address any legal and safety
questions parents may have around cyber-safety. The information session will provide resources for
them to seek more information if they need it but also more information if they have any concerns
regarding the child's safety online. The aim of the information session is not to scare parents and

Nicole Thoonen
Student number: s3162704

guardians into banning their children from using social networking sites but instead to provide a
forum for them to ask any questions they may have and also how to help students navigate their
way through the online social world.
Reflection:
Through doing this intervention activity I have learnt the importance of educating children on
cyber-safety so they can be active in ensuring their own safety, rather than banning or 'protecting'
them from social media (Naidoo, et. al, 2013). Through my research it is clear that children are
using social media earlier than previously thought but they do not yet have the skills to navigate that
world safely (Roberto, et. al, 2014). The intervention activity also highlighted the importance of
having parents and guardians involved in promoting internet safety to students (Naidoo, et. al,
2013). how student welfare issues can affect the the whole school. I found that the Department of
Education and Training (2016) along with the Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner
(2016) have a variety of resources available to teachers and parents to help in teaching and
facilitating discussions around being safe online which can be altered to cater to the needs of the
student, class and/or school. While this intervention is directed at cyber-safety, it can be adapted to
suit many different health and welfare issues that students can face in their lives today and had I
been able to I would have included intervention activities surrounding online bullying and predators
to fit in with this topic. This intervention is also able to fit in with any schools existing health
promotion framework which ensures that the health and wellbeing of the 'whole' child is met and
links with curriculum, the school culture and and community Parliament of Victoria (2010). For this
school, I choose for them to have to change their policy on educating about social networking as
through my research it was clear to see that schools need to be always updating and revising their
policies and approaches especially when it comes to technology in order to better ensuring the
wellbeing of their students (Naidoo, et. al, 2013).

Nicole Thoonen
Student number: s3162704

References:
Ahn, J. (2011) The effect of social network sites on adolescents' social and academic development:
Current theories and controversies, Journal of the American Society for Information Science
and Technology, vol. 62, no. 8, pp. 1435-1445.
Chadwick, R. (2010) Education the key to keeping kids safe online. FYI : the Journal for the School
Information Professional; v.14 n.2 p.4-7; Autumn.
Department of Education and Training (2016). Bullystoppers. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/teachers.aspx
[Accessed 11 April 16]
Naidoo, T., Kritzinger, E., & Loock, M. (2013). Cyber safety education: Towards a cyber-safety
awareness framework for primary schools. Paper presented at the 272-281.
Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner (2016). Education resources [ONLINE] Available
at: https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources
[Accessed 12 April 16]
Parliament of Victoria (2010). The Health Promoting Schools framework [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/etc/SH_Report/Ch2_HPS_framework.
pdf
[Accessed 10 April 16]
Roberto, A., Eden, J., Savage, M., Ramos-Salazar, L., & Deiss, D. (2014). Outcome Evaluation
Results of School-Based Cybersafety Promotion and Cyberbullying Prevention Intervention
for Middle School Students. Health Communication, 29(10), 1029-1042.
Surfside Primary School (2016) Our Students. Surfsideps.vic.edu.au. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.surfsideps.vic.edu.au/ourstudents.php?id=103 [Accessed 11 April 16]