Counsellor Corner - Social media and your family

There has been a lot of discussion in the news lately regarding the dangers of social media for children / young people.

As a counsellor, my top worries include: the sending and or receiving of inappropriate material, sextortion, bullying, threats, anti-social behaviour, damage to reputation, self-esteem, self-harm, mental health and lack of sleep. Kids have to be 13+ to use most apps, but most kids can get around this easily. That’s why it is really important to have healthy conversations around social media use, dangers to self and others, and set boundaries and time restrictions early in the piece.

If you would like to learn more about the different social media platforms, the Carly Ryan Foundation have a great set of fact sheets for parents / carers on Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TIKTOK, Twitch & Youtube. They give you information on age restrictions, why and how the apps are used, privacy settings, data storage, location identification and risks.

If you would like to learn more about online safety in general, please have a look at the esafety Commissioner  webpage. Here you can learn about online harm, how to report concerns, what’s illegal and or restricted online content, cyberbullying, image-based abuse, sexting, extortion, consent, available supports and more. There are also a few pages of interest:

• Parents/ Carers https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents
• Young People https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people
• Kids https://www.esafety.gov.au/kids
• First Nation people https://www.esafety.gov.au/first-nations

Sincerly,

Sandi Brown