New toolkit for online bullying and sextortion, created by students
A group of teenagers has created a toolkit of online safety resources to help students who are struggling with issues around social media, online bullying and sextortion.
Andre Fa’aoso, 18, is one of the 13 students in NetSafe’s Youth Action Squad (YAS) who developed the resource.
“We know from personal experience that young people will listen to young people,” Fa’aoso said. “Peer to peer support is so valuable for rangatahi.”
“It’s something that we’ve missed in our schools, and we wanted to change that,” he said.
The toolkit provides information on how to help educate peers and details on where to go if you are dealing with issues like online bullying, pornography, nudes and sexting, privacy, and problematic gaming behaviours.
Fa’aoso hopes students will use the tool kit to create YAS groups at their own school and begin supporting each other in online spaces.
“There are so many kids like us who want to help but they don’t know how,” he said.
“We designed the toolkit, so anyone can use the resources to start their own YAS group and use the tools to help their school stay safe.”
Fa’aoso has seen how destructive online bullying and social media can be.
“You’re constantly bombarded with filters that have clear skin. You’re bombarded with people who have abs and muscles or who fit into certain styles and sizes of clothing.
“Online spaces have become a bit of a nightmare to navigate,” he said.
These aren’t minor issues. Cyberbullying was costing the country $444 million every year, according to a report commissioned by Netsafe.
Principals have been raising concerns about peer pressure on students to share explicit images.
Netsafe CEO Brent Carey said the message of safety sounds different if it’s coming from another young person instead of a teacher or parent.
“We know young people get their access to knowledge from other peers. It’s important that we equip them to have these conversations [on dangerous online situations] and what they can do when things go wrong.”
NetSafe is publicly funded and currently works with 400 schools across New Zealand.
In a statement, the Ministry of Education’s Stuart Wakefield, Chief Digital Officer, Infrastructure and Digital said the ministry endorses this toolkit.
Wakefield said the funding for YAS came from an extra pool of $690,000 given to Netsafe for the new 2022/2023 financial year.