Our Year 9 students attended a YourChoicez Seminar.
The seminar was designed to empower students to make meaningful relationships by understanding the gravity of the decisions they make online and help them navigate the digital world, helping them understand how decisions can affect both their current and future relationships.
It assisted them to develop an understanding of terminologies such as image-based abuse, sexual harassment and coercion. They have gained an understanding of the concerns, dangers and legalities around the issue of sexting.
Here are some student reflections:
On Tuesday last week we had a seminar called Connections that Count run by YourChoicez. It involved talks about safety online, relationships and friendships, and setting healthy boundaries. I learned about the difference between being a “bystander” and an “upstander”. A community full of “bystanders” are people who tolerate the abuse of others and won't stand up for each other and for the right thing; to be an upstander is to show positivity to one another and to show empathy, courage, and bravery in risk of losing friends and popularity. it was a great seminar that taught me a lot and one thing that will keep for it is to never involve yourself in the things that aren't about you - Daniel C
I found this seminar very interesting! It was very informative and I learned a lot of new information that i think is really applicable and helpful especially due to the impacts of social media on our lives. The seminar leader Bec was really nice and engaging and she allowed us to feel comfortable to lean the content, she was also very easy to get along with and allowed us to have a more fun and pleasurable experience! I recommend this seminar as it was very engaging while still making sure that students can be informed about important issues. I also heard from other students about how they felt about this seminar and they seemed to appreciate that the school went out of their way to provide this educational experience for us. Overall I think it was a valuable experience as it allowed us to learn a lot of new information in a really engaging way and it covered many topics that a lot of girls might not have known much about or personally experienced before and it was very informative - AnnaMae A
Mrs Germeen Matthews
Senior School Teacher - Science & Year 9 Advisor
