From the P&F Association

As the end of school Term 2 approaches, the P&F committee would like to express our thanks and gratitude to all the parents who have participated and helped organise events. The numerous community building events, from Year Group catch-ups to Mother’s Day breakfast and lunch activities (to name a few), have created opportunities to strengthen bonds within our school community.

We wish you and your family a happy and safe school holidays.

We look forward to seeing you all at future events in Term 3. Together, we can build a thriving community and once again thank you for your invaluable support.

It’s back on… the Santa Sabina College Golf Day.

Join us for a day of golf, open to all, as we come together to build a strong community and create wonderful memories.

When: Tee off at 7:30am, Thursday 12 October 2023
Where: Strathfield Golf Club

The cost is $189.00 per person which includes breakfast, 18 holes, lunch and drinks. There are limited spots available so please book to avoid disappointment.

If you have any questions please contact George Ayoub on 0414 915 910 or Joseph Gittani on 0400 413 431. 

Joseph Gittani
President

Technology and internet use for our young people

Our Young People are smart. They know so much about the safe use of technology and the internet. They’ve had to learn fast. When I was young, computers were just starting to enter into homes and the internet wasn’t around. Technology and the internet are now an inherent part of our modern lives.

Our young people have already learned, through school, through friends, through family:

• the importance of using secure passwords AND not sharing passwords with anyone
• That some websites and apps can’t be trusted; going so far to know that some websites and apps may use the information we provide for wicked purposes
• that there are some people online who can’t be trusted and therefore not to speak to people who we don’t know
• that there are some people we do know who can bully, troll, or act in a mean way
• the importance of having some screen-free time and not having our phones near our bed at night.

They know so much, yet unsurprisingly, our young people also find it hard to maintain safe technology use. Why is this the case? There may be a few factors at play:

• Role modelling: at a simple level, our young people watch our use of technology and habits, and normalise that the behaviours that they are seeing also apply to them (for example, using your phone in bed).
• Optimism bias – ‘It won’t happen to me’ – is a thought that may be going through our young person’s mind, albeit at a subconscious level.
• Brain development and use:
  • The use of the internet and social media has an impact on the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is considered the reward system in our brain and is responsible for motivation. Our brain has a release of dopamine when someone ‘likes’ or comments on a social media post. Our brain seeks out these as a means of maintaining motivation. When our brain seeks out the validation on social media it can become addictive for a person. The challenge is that social media has no natural ‘stopping cues’ to help us get off social media; we could be scrolling for hours for that next dopamine hit. This reinforces prolonged time on the internet.
  • Our brains don’t fully develop until 25 years of age. As such, whilst the brains of our young people are still developing and growing, unsafe technology and internet use can have a negative impact.

The facts are that poor technology use can have the following physical impacts for our young people:

• being hacked
• data can be farmed for wicked use.

Poor habits for technology use can have an impact on the mental health of our young people:

• poor sleep
• lower self-esteem due to comparing ourselves with others and the perception that others on the internet are living ‘perfect lives’ when, in reality, this is not the case (social perfectionism)
• the impacts of being bullied/trolled.

What can we do to support the ongoing safe use of technology and internet:

• Create and maintain a family agreement of technology use. This includes:
  •  Time and place to use and not use technology. For example:
    • no devices at mealtime
    • no devices in the bedroom
    • time limits for devices
  • How to hold one another accountable for the family agreement.
• Role model, as adults,positive behaviour for technology and internet use.
• Help young people to learn how to be respectful and kind on social media, and how to support someone who may be experiencing bullying/trolling behaviour.
• Create family rituals that don’t involve technology.

Debra Brodowski
P&F Association