Students who cyberbully will soon be suspended under tough new laws introduced by the New South Wales Government.
Principals will have the power to suspend students if their cyber-bullying impacts the safety of other students or staff – even if that conduct happens outside of school hours.
The new Education Amendment (School Safety) Bill 2017 law passed parliament last year and will be introduced after consultation has occurred with Government and non-government schools.
Students who cyberbully could soon be suspended under tough new laws introduced by the NSW Government.
Mother-of-two Ellie Luff told the Daily Telegraph she was shocked when a police officer told parents each of their children would be followed by at least one groomer online.
She turns off the computer every night at 9.30pm to ensure her children are protected from cyber-bullies.
‘The question to ask is would you let your children walk around at 9.30 at night and talk to strangers, of course not,’ she told the publication.
‘We do talk to our kids about it (cyber-safety) but our school, St Andrew’s school, is very proactive and professional, bringing in police and other experts to talk about the issues.’
NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes, on introducing the legislation into Parliament, said the changes would enable a governments school to use its disciplinary powers to ‘discipline the student’ and ‘stop the misconduct’.
He said this would apply even if the behaviour happens outside of school hours and away from the school.
‘These are important amendments that are necessary to protect students and staff from the risk of seriously violent conduct affecting the health and safety of a school,’ he said.
NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes (pictured) introduced the new law into Parliament last year
In a statement provided to Daily Mail Australia, the Minister said there is growing evidence that new technology like smartphones are a cause of distraction and disciplinary difficulties in some schools.
‘While smartphones offer an amazing connection to the world, that connectivity can also be used to cause pain for other students and disrupt teaching and learning in new ways not considered a decade ago,’ he said.
Minister Stokes said is person view is that personal interaction should be valued above online interaction.’
‘A reason why we introduced the Education Amendment (School Safety) Bill last year was to recognise the reach of technology now to hurt others in schools beyond the school gate.
‘The Bill extended disciplinary powers to student conduct that seriously affected – or threatened to seriously affect – the health or safety of students or staff even if that conduct such as cyberbullying occurred outside school grounds or school hours.
‘My view is that we should value personal interaction above online interaction.’