Cyber safety forum a success

By Lachlan Ellis

More than a hundred parents and guardians have attended a presentation on children’s cyber safety, and it’s hoped more sessions can be held in the future.

Hosted by Bacchus Marsh Blue Light and presented by Martin and Carley McGauran from Inform & Empower, the ‘Raising Kids in a Digital World’ presentation was held on 22 March with the goal of opening adults’ eyes to the world of social media and apps used by their kids.

Moorabool Youth Officer Leading Senior Constable Jim Ross said the event proved to be a real eye-opener for many attendees.

“We had a really good turnout, with about 150 people. A lot said ‘thank you, this information was incredible’. A lot said they didn’t know there were so many possibilities for young people on social media. The feedback was all positive, people said they’d recommend others to go,” LSC Ross told the Moorabool News.

“They all walked away with new knowledge, and a better understand of, I suppose, the potential dangers of social media in a young person’s hand.”

With the prevalence of social media and apps like TikTok, LSC Ross said it’s more important than ever that parents and guardians are aware what their kids are up to online.

“During the information session, you could see the expressions on people’s faces to some of the information being relayed, not all shocking or confrontational, but just what does go on on social media,” he said.

“Things like why these apps prefer people to be over the age of 13, for recording data and that sort of thing. We hope to run future sessions, there was every indication from people that they would attend or tell their friends to. It’s just a matter of finance, that’s the big thing.

“It’s absolutely awesome that Bacchus Marsh Blue Light was able to fund this initial session, but that’s not something they could possibly fund every year.”

At the end of the night, LSC Ross’ message was that while schools and police can support parents, they were not “the firewall”.

“It’s parents that are the firewall. They really need to engage with their kids, as the presentation suggested, it’s like teaching their kid how to ride a bike. They don’t just push them off into the road and say ‘keep your balance’…they nurture them into those kinds of things. Social media is another one of those things parents need to get involved with,” he said.

“Parents are sometimes under the impression their kids are safe because they’re in their bedroom on their laptop or phone. They’ll go out to a playground to supervise their kids, but let them into the cyber world alone…but that can be just as dangerous.”