It was great to have Rosalind along at PTA last night talking openly to parents and teachers about the harm our children are open to when they have unlimited and unmonitored access to social media and the internet.

The good news is, there is still time for parents to take back control. You can do this in one of two ways:

1. Sign the Smartphone Free Childhood Parent Pledge and do not give your child a smartphone until they are older.

See link below.

https://northernirelandparentpact.smartphonefreechildhood...

Or if your child already has a smartphone...

2. Ensure that you are monitoring your child's activity on social media and the internet and that security settings are in place and regularly revisited.

Neither option will be easy and it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle, but doing nothing can no longer be an option.

We must face this challenge together and as a school we pledge to continue to educate our children about online etiquette and online safety.

I firmly believe that taking affirmative action now will be one of the best things you ever do for your child.

I will send out Rosalind's PowerPoint from last night's talk and would encourage all of our parents to take the time to look at the evidence.

R Greer