Strathfield Girls High School – School Captain Speeches for the Children's e-Safety Commissioner Announcement

Strathfield Girls High School – School Captain speeches for the Children's e-Safety Commissioner announcement

Shankari

Good morning to Honourable Malcolm Turnbull the Federal Minister for Communication, Parliamentary Secretary Paul Fletcher, Mr Craig Laundy- Federal Minister for Reid, Ms Virginia Elliott, Director of Every Student Every School and special guests.

This assembly marks the launch of e-Safety commission, an anti-cyber bullying campaign. Cyber bullying is the term used for any sort of harassment that is inflicted using technology. This includes abusive texts/emails, hurtful messages, nasty online gossiping/chatting and imitating other people on social media sites. Cyber bullying can have a very bad impact on the victim, damaging their self-esteem and their interpersonal relationships may also be affected. Many people are able to view and participate in cyber bullying. Cyber bullying could also be very difficult for the victim to escape from if the individual uses technology frequently. Statistics from a recent anti-cyber bullying annual report, 7 in 10 young people are victims of cyber bullying and 20% of young people, who participated in this survey, experience extreme cyber bullying on a daily basis. Through this survey, it was also found that individuals are twice as likely to be bothered on Facebook compared to any other social network. Cyber bullying is an extremely serious issue and can be dealt with, and this campaign … marks the beginning of positive changes in dealing with cyber bullying.

Ahjeong

On the internet, it’s so easy for us to encounter negativity. The negative posts comments and messages often affect us, whether we notice it or not. In case of cyber bullying, its effects can leave noticeable lasting emotional scars in a person. Although the experience is different for everyone, it often makes us feel alone, anxious, scared, miserable, powerless, ashamed, rejected and sad. Some might try to change the way they look or how they act to avoid being bullied. Their confidence plummets, and their performance at school, work and home can also be affected. It can make us feel insecure about who we are, or turn to harmful coping strategies such as drug use, drinking or self-harm. Cyber bullying can also build up to extreme results such as depression, anxiety and even result suicide - the biggest killer in young Australians. In this day and age where we are so connected, and have more access than ever into one another's personal, day to day lives, it is most important to keep in our hearts and minds how a simple snap, message or post can be unwanted and even harmful.

Jessica

Cyber bullying has become a serious issue among teenagers. We, as part of a growing community, need to reduce the number of victims of this aggressive and offensive behaviour. On a personal scale, it’s only right if when we see such behaviour, that we report it - stop responding, save the evidence and report the behaviour to a responsible adult. We, at Strathfield Girls High School, have anti-bullying rules in our school policy. That means our school have zero-tolerance for cyber-bullying and believe that everyone deserves to feel protected and happy on the Net. By being responsible and taking action to cyber bullying at school and on our own, we will be strengthening the roots of positive use of the Internet, building a safe and secure platform for people to communicate and in this way, as tomorrow’s leaders, we will be creating a better future for the next generations.