My current job saw me proactively organise a youth festival called, ‘I Practice Safe Cyber’ and involved a skate, scooter and BMX competition, market stalls, a girls’ self-esteem marquee and then a music festival at night. With a turn out of about 800 kids this was a fantastic number for a first time event in a small coastal town.
I created this event due to the continual amount of calls for service that we received from parents for their children being the victim of sexting, cyber bullying and any number of online offences. The event was very successful and I only wished that I could have continued to make it an annual event. Unfortunately, I moved to Brisbane and changed roles to an Education role as opposed to general duties.
This prior experience will arm me as I transition into the teaching realm. Technology has changed and the the chase is on to catch online predators. I have attended many schools to preach online safety to which some teachers have no knowledge of how to stay safe (this was years ago). It is pleasing to see that Connect.Ed is one of the Professional Development programs that teachers may be required to participate in. I also hear too often that teachers use the phrase, ‘stranger danger’. This is now phased out as the majority of sexual offenders are known to the child and are therefore NOT strangers. The new program is titled, ‘Protective Behaviours‘ and discusses 5 people that a child can go to who they feel safe around and if they have something they need to talk about. It also discusses feelings that the child needs to be aware of.
1. We all have the right to feel safe all the time.
2. Nothing is so awful that we can’t talk with someone about it.
So back to Uni. As we head towards our Professional Experience you may want to use a time management resource that Miranda discusses on her blog. Head over and check it out.
Cheers
Ange
angewoodward96- Learning and Developing Together 
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