On Tuesday 27 March we welcomed Rob Cope from Our Kids Online to an information evening for parents and whānau.

Our Kids Online was created by Rob Cope and Zareen Cope in 2018. Their reason was the coming together of 4 children in their blended family and they were concerned about reports of increases in anxiety and depression in tweens & teens, so undertook further research. This research was on “helping parents & caregivers understand the fallouts, providing safety solutions, and educating on how to increase resilience in kids through their Cyber Safety Presentations.”

​Both parents have had books published on mental health and in 2020 Rob created the documentary - “Porn, Predators and How to Keep Them Safe”

They have an online course for parents/whanāu called The Big Reconnect which helps parents navigate challenges in relation to the online landscape.

The evening presentation on 28th March helped parents:

• understand the harms our kids are facing online in relation to predators, pornography, social media, gaming, fake news, cyberbullying, understanding emotions, and the 24/7 switched-on effect on the developing brain;
  
• By equipping them with practical solutions they could implement immediately to keep their children safer online;
  
• know some healthy ways to approach the tricky topics; and
  
• know what to do when their child has been exposed to something harmful.
  

Workshops

The course run through the school involves 9 whanāu times during the hauora period on Wednesday - the course consists of:

• Technology and the developing brain - Looks at the brain development as a teenager
• Cyberbullying - Why cyberbullies bully and how to keep yourself safe
• Fake news, mis and disinformation - How online algorithms can create a very small world view
• Gaming and the developing brain - An oversupply of dopamine leading to dopamine deficiency, synaptic pruning and the underdevelopment of social skills and empathy
• Social media - The need to build an online brand that is often far removed from their authentic selves. FOMO, Highlight Reels
• Healthy relationships - What they look like and how to remove yourself from an unhealthy one
• Naked Selfies - The pressure to send nudes from intermediate up through high school and how to say no
• Online porn vs healthy sexuality - How consuming online porn can create a sexual template where violence, aggression and dominance are seen as normal and consent can become very blurry
• Online predators - The methods they use, how to spot them and how to get out from under their control if you have been trapped

How the course is run

• Various modules are split into year groups which include a short film presentation, full teacher facilitation guide, student handout with safety planner, information flyer and letters for the parent & caregiver community which are sent out by school before the module is presented.
• Each presentation contains discussion points that are also detailed in the student handouts with room for notes;
• Each teacher facilitation guide includes the objectives of the module, the materials required to facilitate the lesson(s), 'how to' guide and the discussion points