Raising kids in a digital world

By Lachlan Ellis

It can be tricky for parents and carers to wrap their heads around the digital world that kids live in these days, but a free presentation running next month will help clear things up.

Hosted by Blue Light, in partnership with local primary schools, the 90-minute ‘Raising Kids In a Digital World’ presentation will provide parents and carers with advice on how to keep kids safe navigating social media, online gaming, and more.

The session will be presented by Martin and Carley McGauran from Inform & Empower – an experienced teacher and psychologist respectively – and aims to both open adults’ eyes to the potential dangers of the online world, and provide tips on how to protect kids from those dangers.

Moorabool Youth Officer Leading Senior Constable Jim Ross said the presentation was worth any parent or carer attending.

“I’m concerned about the growing trend of enquiries, and young people falling victim to online bullying and sexting. Victims are becoming younger and younger, so in my role as Youth Officer and a key leader at Blue Light, I figured what we could do is have a public information evening in relation to raising kids in the digital world,” LSC Ross told the Moorabool News.

“Parents and carers will gain some knowledge into how to better supervise or protect their children from problems that are inherent with social media. They’ll be equipped with information on things they might not even be aware of. Martin and Carley gave the example that you teach your kids to ride a bike in the backyard and up and down the driveway, then on the footpath, before they can ride on the road when they’re old enough.

“But nowadays, some parents give kids old iPhones to play with that have access to the internet, without supervision. That’s like putting a kid on a bike and pushing them, hoping that they keep balance. I think that’s one of the best analogies I’ve heard.”

LSC Ross said past presentations by Martin and Carley McGauran had left parents and carers with the message that “it’s not like taking the computers away from the kids, but you’ve got to get more involved with what your kids are doing online”.

“What we at Blue Light and the schools plan to do is use this initial presentation as a platform, and hopefully continue it each year,” he said.

The presentation begins at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 22 March at the Bacchus Marsh Public Hall. To register, visit www.bit.ly/bacchusmarsh2023.