Manningham school principals came together in August to discuss the impact of social media with representatives from the eSafety Commissioner.

At this year’s Principals’ Breakfast we focused on how digital technologies, including social media, video games and phone usage, are intensifying the challenges faced by young people in their daily lives.

‘Someone is threatening to share my nudes’ is the most visited eSafety Commissioner webpage – underscoring both the prevalence of the issue and the importance of the resource.

Our keynote, Nicky Sloss, Manager Education Sectors at the eSafety Commissioner highlighted how teens are facing new and emerging threats online, including: 

• a 291% increase in sexual extortion reports from 2019 to 2023, 
• almost all children surveyed acted in response to a negative experience online, and
• 40% of young gamers having a negative experience while gaming, and 30% being exposed to potentially harmful ideas.

These alarming facts underscore the urgency of working together. Nicky offered a strength-based approach to addressing these challenges emphasising the shared responsibility of government, schools, community, and families in tackling these issues.

The importance of collaborating was echoed by principals and community members in attendance.

"Empowering young people in our schools takes a collective commitment,” Manningham Youth Advisory Committee member Rimsha Shakil said.

“Seeing people of different backgrounds meet to address the challenges young people face, really showed how supportive our community is.”

The breakfast continues to build on the relationship between Manningham Council, school principals, welfare teams and community organisations including Doncare, Victoria Police, eSafety Commissioner, Eastern Volunteers, and Aligned Leisure.

Following the keynote, a panel of subject matter experts, including Nicky, Warren Turner from EACH’s Manningham Youth Services, and A/Superintendent Carlie Kohler, Victoria Police, shared their expertise on local support, community perspectives, and broader assistance for parents, teachers, and young people.

You can report harmful content to eSafety online.

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