In the lead-up to its centenary and as part of its commitment to reduce bullying, one of Australia’s leading private schools for girls is making Family Zone protection mandatory on all learning devices for younger students outside of school hours, and optional for older students.

A Uniting Church school located in Glen Osmond, South Australia, Seymour College will assist  parents to manage their daughters’ social media and screen-time at home by providing Mobile Zone licences free of charge to all school families.

Parents will be given the option to protect additional personal devices as well BYO tablets and laptops and can decide what level of control they prefer for their children.

“It’s about being able to guide the girls about what they should, and shouldn’t, be using devices for.”

During the school day, Family Zone’s School Manager solution will be used to bar social media on all students devices, across all year levels - whether connected to the school WiFi or personal 4G data.

“The ability to keep students safe regardless of the device they are using or the source of the internet they are connected to is one of the main differences that Family Zone offers,” says college principal Kevin Tutt.

The response from families has been enthusiastic, according to deputy principal Dan Walker. He expects an especially strong take-up by parents of Year 8s and 9s.

Another of Family Zone’s suite of technologies, “Classroom,” will give teachers the tools to view and manage what students are doing online as they’re doing it - empowering them to direct attention to lesson-related sites and close distracting tabs and apps with a single click.

Observes Family Zone Education Director Jon Chivers, “It’s about being able to guide the girls about what they should, and shouldn’t, be using devices for.”

Read the full coverage in The Advertiser, here.