One hundred and ninety people packed into Alexandra Bowling Club on Wednesday evening (September 13) to hear from documentary maker Rob Cope about “strong, clear and consistent boundaries” for youngsters online.

Dunstan High School’s Parent Teacher Association organised the free talk and promoted it to the broader community of Central parents.

Rob said it was common for parents to feel like they are drowning as they are the first generation to have to deal with the online world.

He quipped that Alexandra’s turnout was double that of Cromwell, where he spoke one night earlier.

After a welcome from Dunstan High School deputy principal Todd Adams, Rob talked about porn, predators, gaming, social media, and cyberbullying during the first hour.

He said he was “not scaremongering or sensationalising” and that children as young as nine are reaching for porn.

“Nine out of ten families don’t have adequate filters in place. Porn has become violent, degrading and hardcore in recent years, and it’s highly addictive.” 

Rob said the fallouts were wide ranging from boys trading ‘nudes’ like they were Pokémon cards at around 11 years old, to increasing child on child sexual assaults.

His main message was that “the internet is not a place to be trusting our kids with” and that social media is not child technology.

“We need to step in and get our kids back and rescue them from the dragon of their own addictions… we [parents] are their brakes.”

The second part of the talk focused on solutions to protect rangitahi and tamariki both inside and outside the home. 

“Disconnect to reconnect” was a catchphrase he used. 

Rob talked about healthy boundaries leading to healthy kids. PHOTO: The Central App

Rob said he was constantly challenging himself in his own device usage and engaging with his children was paramount.

“It’s having face to face conversations… as long as we are connected to them they’ll be okay.”

Dunstan High School is running a set of classroom lessons from Rob titled ‘The Informed and Empowered programme’ for every year group in whānau ora time in term four. 

A screening of his presentation for those who weren’t able to attend is also being planned for the start of next term. 

Find out more about installing filters and other help for parents on Our Kids Online.