School Trustees

If you are a Trustee, you are no doubt concerned about all of the reports in the news recently involving schools and the internet. Schools are playing a key role in helping young people use the internet as a powerful learning tool, but they also need to help young people, and their families, understand the potential risks of Cyberspace (the virtual place accessed when using the internet or mobile phones). With positive and pro-active education, those risks can be effectively minimised.

The 2007 NetSafe Kit for Schools provides guidelines so that each school can develop cybersafety documents and procedures that suit the individual culture of that school. It is recommended that both the Chair of the Board and the Principal go through the kit, which can be accessed here.

Most schools in New Zealand are very pro-active in getting the right procedures in place. However, given the current proliferate use of ICT devices amongst young people, schools risk being considered negligent in their duty to provide a safe learning environment if they do not have:

• policy, use agreements or other documents governing how ICT is to be used within the school environment;
• electronic security to protect all school-owned ICT devides;
• a significant education programme for both students and their families.
  Trustees are, in a sense, the guardians of the school community.

Trustees are, in a sense, the guardians of the school community. Your interest and awareness about cybersafety issues will be a tremendous asset as your school, like every other in New Zealand, continues to incorporate information and communication technologies into the learning environment.