Wagga president Respect Awareness Ronda Lampe finds flaws in Dr Michael Carr-Gregg's proposal

Leading Australian child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg sent a proposal to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison about a “revolutionary” solution that would have an “immediate” effect on the prevalence of cyber bullying. 

Year 3 students would have to sit an online test at home with their parents to gain a licence that would allow them to bring their technological devices to school. 

However, Wagga president of Respect Awareness Ronda Lampe said there are “too many flaws” in this proposal. 

“Cyber bullying, in the first place, has to start in the home with children as young as one-year’s-old as they see these devices and by the time they’re two and three they have already learnt to press buttons,” Mrs Lampe said. 

“As they get older, parents need to put some guidelines on their usage of these technological devices as schools cannot be expected to teach students how to use it. 

“The basic thing to stop cyber bullying is parents giving guidelines and putting parametres around their usage and teach their children about respect; if they want to be respected, they have to respect others.” 

Mrs Lampe questioned whether parents have the time, among other chores like preparing meals, to sit down with their children and supervise an online test. 

“There would be cases where parents wouldn’t or couldn’t sit down and do it properly because of time constraints,” she said. 

“Is there any guarantee that this test would be filled out in a stable and secure environment with a parent overseeing to make sure that it is done in an accurate way? 

“And, how can you police it? Anyone can fill out a form to suit the requirements to get what they want, which in this case is being able to take their technological devices to school.”

Despite not being sold on this plan to combat cyber bullying, Mrs Lampe said cyberbullying is a “curse on society” that affects all ages. 

Dr Carr-Gregg said his proposal has derived from research conducted by the Office of eSafety Commissioner, which found that one in four children are harassed and bullied online, while one in five have been subjected to “unwanted contact”, between the ages of eight to 12. 

Dr Carr-Gregg said these “horrific” figures demonstrate the prevalence of cyber bullying in Australia and that the “existing school-based” education is not working as well as it should. 

“We should create and mandate the current education that you cannot bring any device into Australian schools until you have passed and gained a digital licence,” he said. 

“Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 are the levels where this online test should be mandated and as students get older, the test would become more complex. 

“I think it would have an immediate effect and as technology changes, so too will the digital licence, so it would be revolutionary and fluid.” 

Dr Carr-Gregg said it is imperative that the government, schools and parents “respond” to the risks of cyber bullying. 

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