Families can set clearer boundaries and make it easier for children to speak up by discussing technology rules together and creating a shared family agreement. Image: AI-generated illustration, created with cybersafety in mind.
Counting the minutes a child spends on a device does not tell parents what they are watching, who they are speaking with or how the experience is affecting them.
Life Ed specialist educator Kira Hazel said screen-time limits could help, but time was only one part of the picture.
“Families also need to consider the type of activity, the time of day, who the child is interacting with and how they feel during and after using technology,” Ms Hazel said.
Ms Hazel will lead a free Family Cybersafety Information Session for parents, carers and children at PCYC Moree on Monday, August 3, 2026, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.
The session will cover online gaming, screen use, sleep, family routines, age-appropriate limits, privacy, communication and what families can do when something goes wrong online. Families will also create a Family Technology Agreement they can keep using at home.
Online life is part of everyday life
Ms Hazel said the online world was no longer separate from children’s “real life”.
“It is woven through how they learn, play, communicate, create and maintain friendships,” she said. “Children are also going online earlier and moving between messaging, video, gaming and educational platforms, often within the same day.”
National eSafety research shows how common these activities are. It found 96 per cent of Australian children aged 10 to 15 had used social media, 94 per cent had used a communication platform and 86 per cent had played online video games.
The same research found 71 per cent had come across content linked with harm and 52 per cent had experienced cyberbullying. These are national figures and do not show the level of online harm in Moree.
Ms Hazel said families often sought help with screen use, gaming, cyberbullying, group chats, privacy, unwanted contact, unsuitable content and deciding when children were ready for certain platforms.
She said children could seem highly capable because they knew how to use apps and devices, but this did not mean they had the judgement to manage every situation.
“Being able to navigate an app quickly is not the same as understanding privacy, recognising manipulation, questioning unreliable information or knowing how to respond under pressure,” she said.
Parents could also focus on well-known social media apps while missing the chat and contact features inside games, messaging services and livestreams.
“Harmful behaviour can occur anywhere people can communicate, share content or make contact,” Ms Hazel said.
Look beyond the number of minutes
Ms Hazel said a creative or educational activity could affect a child very differently from a fast-paced game, an endless video feed or an emotional group chat.
Families should ask whether technology use was affecting sleep, movement, learning or time spent with family.
Many digital activities use rewards, competition and a steady flow of content to hold attention, which can make them hard to stop. Instead of ending an activity without warning, parents could agree on expectations before a device was switched on, give advance notice and wait for a natural stopping point, such as the end of a game or video.
Ms Hazel also suggested keeping highly stimulating activities away from bedtime and moving into calmer activities such as reading, drawing or listening to music.
“The aim is not to ban devices,” she said. “It is to help children develop balanced habits and learn how different online activities affect their mood, attention, relationships and wellbeing.”
Make it safe for children to speak up
Ms Hazel said children might stay quiet about an online problem if they thought they would be blamed, punished or lose their device.
Parents should make it clear their first response would be to listen and help. Simple statements such as “You won’t be in trouble for telling me” and “We will work out what to do together” could make a big difference, she said.
Children could also choose several trusted adults they could speak with, including another family member, a teacher or a school wellbeing worker.
When a child shared a problem, adults should thank them for speaking up, listen carefully and check whether they felt safe.
The next step would depend on what had happened. It could include saving evidence, reporting content to a platform, blocking an account, reviewing privacy settings, contacting a school or reporting serious online harm to eSafety.
Ms Hazel said taking away a device should not always be the first response because it could make children less likely to speak up in future.
Writing the rules together
The Moree session will also help families create a Family Technology Agreement.
Ms Hazel described it as a shared set of expectations about how devices and online services would be used at home. It could cover when and where devices are used, which apps are suitable, privacy and location settings, online purchases, respectful behaviour, bedtime routines and what family members should do when something goes wrong.
Children should help create the agreement instead of simply being handed a list of rules, she said.
“The process is as valuable as the finished agreement,” Ms Hazel said. “It creates an opportunity to discuss the reasons behind each expectation, hear the child’s perspective and agree on rules that feel fair, realistic and appropriate for their age.”
Some rules should also apply to adults, so parents and carers model the habits they expect from children.
The agreement should be reviewed as children grow, new devices or platforms are introduced and family needs change.
What the session will provide
Ms Hazel said families would leave with practical ideas for setting limits, handling transitions between activities, protecting sleep, helping children speak up and building healthier technology habits.
The one-hour session will not provide detailed instructions for every app, game or device. It is also not an individual counselling, legal, investigative or technical support service.
Serious matters involving grooming, sexual extortion, image-based abuse, threats, suspected criminal conduct or significant mental-health concerns may need specialist help.
The free Family Cybersafety Information Session will be held at PCYC Moree, 36 Boston Street, on Monday, August 3, 2026, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.
It is open to parents, carers and children and is being delivered by Life Ed in partnership with PCYC Moree and Centacare as part of Healthy Harold’s 2026 Festival of Health. Life Ed is an approved provider for the eSafety Commissioner’s education programs.
