Kia ora koutou. Talofa. Kia Orana. Malo e lelei. Bula vinaka. Fakaalofa atu. Namaste. Kumusta. Haere mai ki Te Kura Te Huruhuru Ao o Horomaka. Warm greetings to the Hornby High School community.

There is a great line in the movie Jurassic Park, where the scientist played by actor Jeff Goldblum says of the work to clone dinosaurs “You’ve spent so much time wondering if you could, you forgot to ask if you should” (or something like that, anyway). It seems to me that this is true of so many things in life today, not the least to the human tendency to make comments on the internet, and in social media in particular, that are untrue, unkind, and often generally just mischievous.

This is a huge challenge for children and teenagers whose thinking part of the brain is not yet fully developed. Mind you I have found the same in interactions with some adults (but that is another story). The issue is that very often our young people do not have sufficiently well developed internal sensors to know what to say. They say that knowledge is knowing what to say, but wisdom is knowing whether or not to say it, and wisdom seems to be in short supply these days.

So it is that in some ways social media in particular is a huge issue. I would hazard the guess that over three quarters of the conflict we have to deal with at school (and probably more) begins on social media, and almost always happens out of school hours. Society allows young people access to this amazing tool, and then we wonder why they get into strife.

Now I am not stupid enough to suggest that we simply ban social media, but I do strongly urge two things

The first and best approach to this issue lies in the values that we give to our children. They are far less likely to misuse the tool if they understand the need for kindness, and the need for respect, in everything that they say and do.

The second is that as adults you control your child’s access to social media. Almost all social media platforms to my knowledge require that users be at least 13 years of age. We are regularly distressed at the number of 11 and 12 year olds (and often younger) who have Facebook, Instagram, or other social media, accounts. They have contravened the terms and conditions for use. Monitoring online time and activity is important in the short run. If necessary, remember who it is that pays for the internet access in your home. Feel free to turn the wireless off. Watch out for fake accounts on your child’s devices. Try to make sure that your children feel that they can talk to you about these issues.

It is in the long run that good values come to the fore, because you won’t always be there to watch over your children. So giving them that good ‘values base’ (based on manaakitanga, on kindness and care for others) means they are better equipped to make good decisions.

Alone you will find it difficult to change anything. Together we can change the world.

Please make sure you follow us on Facebook for the latest and most up to date news https://www.facebook.com/hornbyhighschool/ , and on our website www.hornby.school.nz . You can also follow my thinking our education journey at Hornby High School, and more generally, on my blog at https://whakataukihewakaekenoa.blogspot.co.nz/

Kia tau te mauri

Robin Sutton