On Monday 17 February parents from across the school were invited to our launch and initial briefing session for Family Zone with a supporting eSafety presentation from ySafe.

Family Zone is a technological solution facilitating parents as they support young people in their device use. It allows for appropriate restrictions and monitoring of device and online activity. The required Family Zone application has been installed on school-issued SurfaceBook devices used by Year 7 and 8 students. It can also be downloaded by Junior School parents onto the school-issued iPads and to other students’ Bring Your Own devices. 

The evening consisted of presentations from Family Zone about the features of the Family Zone application and strategies for effective use. A complementary presentation from Cyber Experts ySafe explored current social media behaviours of teens across various platforms with a focus on the particular potential safety issues associated with each platform.

More information can be accessed through the school portal or at https://www.familyzone.com/barkercollege.

For those who missed the event, in Week 4 of Term 2, 2020, the Barker Institute will host another eSafety event with Kirra Pendergast of Safe on Social Media presenting on teen social media use and support strategies for parents.