This week 4/5/6 class had a visit from Senior Constable Jane who works for NSW Police, based in Bathurst but visiting schools all over the region to engage and inform students. Our students came up with some great questions including how to become a police officer, what the job is like, about police dogs and horses, what sort of training they undergo, (and other questions about guns and handcuffs!)

Jane gave great information about the huge diversity of roles within the police force, and how police keep our community safe. She particularly focussed on cyber safety and reminded the students why Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook require you to be 13 years old to have an account.

Many of the students mentioned that they had had inappropriate content pop up when searching the internet, so please check in with your kids about this, and give them the chance to debrief. She recommended families think carefully about which apps their children should have access to and pleaded for families to regularly check who children are communicating with, and sharing videos and photos with. A funny little dance posted on TikTok can seem harmless, but remember we never know how far photos/videos/comments will be shared, and once posted we have no control over this.

Senior Constable Jane recommended families explore the safest option Messenger Kids and think about changing settings and filters to monitor what they are being exposed to online.

The talk was very informative, there were lots of great questions from our students and quite a few said they would consider joining the police force in the future.  For further information see https://www.tafensw.edu.au/iprowd  for more information on Indigenous Police Recruitment programs and https://www.facebook.com/messenger_kids_marketing/ for info on Messenger Kids.