A Survey and Fortnite Advice.

CYBER AWARENESS

Survey

We are going through a process to gain an understanding of the school community’s online experiences, challenges and understanding of school digital citizenship and online safety practices. We would appreciate if you could complete this short survey:

Netsafe Community Survey

Fortnite

I wrote about this earlier in the year and it still seems to be a major obsession for teenage males.

Here are links to 2 news articles:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/tech/news/2018/04/15/teens-obsessed-fortnite-and-its-driving-school-teachers-crazy/510496002/

https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/family/is-fortnite-bad-for-the-teenage-brain-1.464332

In the second article some of the symptoms of fortnite addictions are listed as:

• Unusual preoccupation with the idea of getting back online to play;
  
• Self-imposed isolation in order to guarantee uninterrupted play;
  
• Feelings of irritability and restlessness when not playing games;
  
• Lying about the amount of time spent gaming;
  
• Persistent headaches caused by too much screen time;
  
• Carpal tunnel syndrome caused by excessive use of gaming devices;
  
• Diminished personal hygiene and poor diet;
  
• Persistent fatigue due to lack of sleep.
  

As a parent of a boy in Year 10 we are constantly battling about this at home. The advice from the article is: “as parents we have a “fundamental responsibility” to understand and monitor our children’s behaviour online. That means teaching them how to “self-regulate” throughout their lives. “The best way to achieve this is through communication and connection rather than coercion and control.”

Good luck

Jurgen Muller