Advice for Parents

Covenant Christian School supports parents in their responsibility to keep children safe when using technology at home. The following four steps form the basis of developing young people with an appropriate, biblical approach to digital technology.

1. Protection

It is important to provide a protected environment for our children. A filtered internet connection is best understood as preventing the 'accidental stumbles' across inappropriate material on the internet.

We encourage parents to investigate filtering products in the market, and select the most appropriate for your situation. Some examples include Koala Safe, OpenDNS and FamilyZone.

Warning: Nearly all smartphones with a 3G or 4G sim will provide unfiltered internet connection. This connection can then be shared among other devices. If your child has a smartphone, they can bypass your home wireless internet connection and access any website. If you have provided your child with such a device, we recommend filtering on the device itself.

2. Education

We should not expect that filtering software will do all of the work when it comes to keeping our children safe. It is important that we educate them to use the good gift of digital technology wisely. Covenant Christian School has subscribed to the resources of Internet Safe Education for our parents to use. These resources include a range of short videos and training courses for parents, to help them provide a safe environment, and teach their children to respond appropriately in a variety of scenarios. Use the passcode: covchristsch

3. Supervision

Children need to be supervised when using digital technology. Covenant recommends that ALL technology is used and charged in a public space and should NOT be used in the bedroom. The temptations are many and varied, and the best deterrent for those temptations is to have visible screens in the home.

Students from Years 7 to 9 should not need to use their devices any later than 9.30pm.

4. Trust

As children grow, they will earn trust. More freedom should be gradually given, while continuing to communicate openly about how to use technology in an appropriate manner. At the same time, students make mistakes. We are all sinful and when children do make mistakes, they need to know that there will be consequences, but that they will be framed with forgiveness and grace.

Best Practice Guidelines

Charge devices in a public place in the home
Devices should never be used in the bedroom
Install web filtering on your home internet connection
Students in Years 7 to 9 should not need to use their devices after 9.30pm
Be a PEST (Protect, Educate, Supervise, Trust)

Technology Support Our approach to technology