| Purpose |
To develop guidance and strategies around:
- selecting and accessing appropriate media for children, and
- the appropriate use of mobile phones by children.
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| Practice Requirements |
Mobile phones - Managers must develop guidelines for the use of mobile phones as part of their home’s risk-management planning.
- Planning for mobile phone usage must be individualised and take account of the child’s age, maturity and their demonstration of appropriate social responsibility in this area.
- Children with access to the internet on their private mobile phones must have mobile phone management plans or contracts in place.
- Children must not have access to, or possess residential care workers’ phone numbers. Residential care workers must not:
- exchange private phone numbers with past or present children
- have children’s phone numbers on their personal mobile phones, or
- allow children to use worker’s personal mobile phones or internet enabled devices.
The Internet, computers and other devices
- Residential care workers must refer to the Classification Guidelines set by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) (also in related resources) when supporting children to use electronic media safely.
- Residential care workers must also take into account the children’s developmental age, trauma history, vulnerability, and appropriateness of content of media bought into the home.
- Workers must discourage children’s use of illegal, dangerous, offensive, illicit or illegal media.
- In line with our Sanctuary Commitment to Non-Violence and social responsibility, Residential care workers must observe and monitor the content of material being viewed or played by children on home’s computers and any personal internetenabled devices that a child brings into the home to:
- assess its appropriateness
- make sure that downloaded material is safe and appropriate for the child, and
- restrict access to inappropriate websites.
- Residential care workers must limit time and use of electronic media to safeguard the children’s health and wellbeing.
- Every home must have written agreements that describe the expectations for use of electronic media clearly, and includes non-violence and social responsibility for workers and children. These agreements must be signed by the case manager, child, and the home manager or key worker, ideally at the residential care plan meeting, or when the device is brought into the home.
- All inappropriate use of any media must be recorded and reported to the child’s caseworker.
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Procedures- Introduction
- 1. Mobile phones
- 2. Access to the Internet
- 3. Music
- 4. Cameras and recording devices
- 5. Television
- 6. Gaming consoles and devices
IntroductionResidential care workers have a social and legal responsibility to teach children about social media and the legal implications of illegal downloads and uploads, and purchasing illegally made DVD’s, CD’s and other media. All Residential care workers must support children to be socially responsible when accessing media or listening to music. Residential care workers must encourage children to be considerate of others in the home by playing media and music in a way that is not detrimental or distracting to other children. To achieve this, workers may need to negotiate with children about when and where media or music may be played. 1. Mobile phonesAt the placement interview, acceptable use of mobile phones and consequences of misuse should be discussed with the child and his or her case manager. At this meeting a list of permitted contacts and a list of contacts not permitted should also be developed. Acceptable use varies between homes, and the ages and stage of the children, and each home will have its own guidelines. These guidelines should be presented to each child for their ongoing reference. While there is always a need for management of children’s use of mobile phones, the expectations established with each child should meet the social norms for the child’s developmental age and circumstances. The agreed expectations should also allow children to develop and learn the use of these technologies at the same rate as children who are not in the CEO’s care. Children who have access to the internet on their private mobile phones must have mobile phone management plans and contracts in place. Where inappropriate use is suspected or known, residential care workers should record this in case notes and report it to the home manager and/or case manager. 2. Access to the InternetAll homes have access to the internet. Residential care workers must refer to the practice requirements and apply guidance to all internet enabled devices at or brought into the home. Children’s access to the internet is conditional upon appropriate usage. The conditions should be recorded and strictly adhered to (for example, installation of filters restricting access to particular sites, supervision requirements, etc). All workers must be aware of the conditions of use, and particularly of: - the need for close supervision of children, and
- any limitations or restrictions that have been imposed.
The level of supervision of a child should be commensurate to the level of risk. That is, a child accessing the internet should do so in a ‘public place’ in the home where practical, and be closely supervised by a residential care worker. Residential care workers must supervise and educate children on safe use of the internet and the potential dangers of cyber bullying. Online bullying is one potential cyber safety issue for children when they use computers and mobile phones. Other potential risks include, but is not limited to: online gaming, violence gaming, accessing adult sites, online predators, etc. Voice over Internet Phone (VoIP) calls Making phone calls over the internet using free calling websites such as Skype or Facetime can be accessed, but this must be supervised by residential care workers and limited to each child’s approved contacts. Age appropriate social networking sites may be accessed under residential care workers’ supervision. Residential care workers may set up accounts that link to social networking sites to monitor the children. 3. MusicResidential care workers must monitor music bought into the home via CDs, mp3 players, iPhones, iPods, iPads, USB sticks and other devices. Music that includes racism, sexually explicit or violent themes, or violent language must be questioned and discouraged by workers. Children must be reminded that they need to adhere to the media contract signed with the home manager. Residential care workers should consider a range of strategies to introduce children to other genres of music to complement their preferred choices (to learn that quieter or softer music can help to calm and reduce stress). 4. Cameras and recording devices As per social and legal responsibility, Residential care workers must supervise and educate children to use recording devices safely and appropriately. Taking and distributing inappropriate pictures or videos is not permitted. In the instance where a residential care worker only has their personal mobile available, at the first possible opportunity they should download the photos a Department computer and permanently remove them from the personal mobile. A copy should be sent to the district and a copy given to the child. Residential care workers should refer to the following: - Residential Care Practice Manual 1.3 - Confidentiality and Information Sharing, and
- Casework Practice Manual entry Identification of children
5. TelevisionResidential care workers must refer to the guidelines on children watching programmes and DVDs in the homes. The ACMA Classification Guidelines must be checked, and as a minimum, be in line with age appropriate guidelines. Ratings on video games, e-books and DVD’s are unreliable. All forms of electronic media should be previewed by residential care workers where practical. The level of supervision required for a child watching an appropriately classified DVD, the content of which is known to residential care workers, is considerably less. Smart TVs must be used in accordance with the internet use guidelines. The use of TVs and portable DVD players in bedrooms should be limited according to the home’s guidelines. 6. Gaming consoles and devicesResidential care workers must supervise children playing games and the device’s contents. The ACMA Classification Guidelines must be checked, and as a minimum, be in line with age appropriate guidelines. In line with our commitment to non-violence and social responsibility, games that include racism, sexism, violent themes and language, and simulated illegal behaviour (for example, car stealing) are not appropriate and must be discouraged by residential care workers.
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