Pesel & Carr Managing Director Barbara Pesel discuss a recent string of private school social media scandals appearing in the mainstream media with Susan Halliday ahead of their shared seminar on workplace social media risks and rewards in Melbourne on 24 August.
Barbara: Why are all of these private school boys getting into trouble when it comes to girls, respect and social media?
Susan: It’s not just private schools, it’s ALL schools. Irrespective of sector – independent, Catholic or public – there are examples of students engaging in inappropriate, and potentially unlawful behaviour on social media across the board.
Examples include stalking, bullying, the creation of misinformation, fake social media sites, defamation, privacy breaches and the transfer of sexually explicit material without permission.
Most young people have limited or no understanding of the legislative frameworks that govern social media. They don’t realise that they are ‘publishing’ content every time they post online.
Lack of knowledge combined with immaturity and, at times, intent to be sexist, racist, abusive or offensive lead to behaviour that is quite appalling – although of course it does not reflect the mindset of all young people using social media.
Barbara: It may well be that this happens in all schools, but from a media perspective, it seems to be more newsworthy if students are from a boys’ private school.
I can point to two reasons. First, it reinforces the underlying “story” regarding male privilege and power. Also, there’s also an element of tall poppy syndrome at play. Australians love to see the mighty cut down to size!
However, as you say, the most recent incident had boys seeking nude photos of girls from 70 schools around Australia, both public and private.
And all schools need to be prepared for reputational crises – not just private schools – as well as physical crises.
Obviously, it’s better to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place, than to deal with an issue in the media. What do you think principals can do to prevent this?
Susan: Principals and teachers need to be clear that what happens outside school is relevant to the school if those attending the school are the culprits or the affected parties, or the reputation of the school could be damaged. Indeed many do understand this, but it’s not easy to manage once the situation has already surfaced. Proactive education is essential.
The role of schools is to provide young people with a contemporary foundational skill set.
One part of that is a comprehensive understanding of what equality and human rights look like in an adolescent world , and there is a need to unpack what a fair and non-sexist, non-racist society looks like – including on social media.
Educators have an obligation to provide ‘contemporary’ and ‘relevant’ content. The fact that something wasn’t an issue for the previous generation is irrelevant. I talk to educators who themselves have no idea that they are ‘publishing’ online every time they post on Facebook or share an image online. But it is their job to understand today’s legislative frameworks and educate students accordingly.
While there is work done around bullying online, there is limited work done around the legislative frameworks relevant to social media, which means students have no knowledge of, or are dismissive of situations that may impact their futures and career choices – indeed in some case for life!
Young people need to understand that there are laws which apply when they use social media, just as there are laws that must be obeyed when they are learning to drive a car. The laws are an additional layer to school and parental expectations. Students know they are in trouble if they get caught shoplifting, after school, in school uniform – yet there is a knowledge void in the area of social media and about ‘publishing’ content.
Being charged at a young age with using a carriage service to menace, harass, vilify, victimise or threaten someone, is not going to be good – and material I have seen published by adolescents recently could easily amount to:
- defamation
- human rights breaches such as racial or sexual harassment
- child pornography
- risks to physical and mental health and safety
- stalking and cyber-bullying
The other thing students need to remember is that everything online exists forever – even if people superficially delete the material of concern, people can print material off, haveshared it already via a retweet or regram, or take screenshots beforehand. Young people also need to understand they “rent” social media accounts, they don’t own them – that means someone else may well own the content, and have the archive, which can of course be retrieved if required
Barbara: Policies are important, true, but I think it’s also worth educating students about the fact they don’t just risk their own reputation and legal status, but the reputation of their schools.
For schools, one of their most important assets is reputation, and students can damage it far more easily online than in more traditional ways principals care about such as not wearing the uniform properly in public.
Certainly, when it comes to reputation, it makes no difference if the online transgression occurred outside school hours or outside school grounds – the school still needs to deal with it.
The other thing schools to be aware of is that they need to be actively listening on social media, with the hope, among other things, that they can nip any issues in the bud before the entire world knows about it. The earlier you can catch an issue, the easier it is to deal with.
I think a good, proactive communication campaign that resonates with, and features, young people can also help schools prevent or minimise the occurrence of these problems. Perhaps we need to put the issues in the context of porn culture, group-think and widespread sexism. Maybe there’s a need for a teen version of the Male Champions of Change campaign?
If a school has failed to prevent an issue, then the next question becomes that of appropriate response. What is the appropriate punishment in your view?
Susan: Every case needs to be assessed on its individual circumstances or merits.
Schools need to have an established platform so that conversations with students about social media, cyberbullying and stalking or inappropriate abuse or sexual harassment online can refer back to policies – in fact policies are crucial to fulfilling their obligation as education providers.
Policies should clearly detail ramifications for students who behave in a way that has the potential to negatively impact others, or break the law.
Schools should also have explicit contracts with students who engage online at school.
Barbara: If an issue is in the public eye, the other question is the extent to which the punishment should also be made public by the school.
When it comes to expulsion, it can be a case of ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’. There’s the risk that by failing to expel you’re seen to condone the behaviour, however equally schools which have expelled students for misbehaviours such as drug use have copped flack for failing to ‘be there’ when their students need them most.
In recent cases, some schools have made the punishments public, while others have positioned them as being a private matter between the school and the student concerned – which I think is not a bad approach, as long as there is clear condemnation of the behaviour.
Schools aren’t the only players here. What should parents be doing?
Parents should be well versed in school policies, and have the responsibility to help their children understand that they are expected to adhere to the basic laws of society around social media – just as they are expected to respect laws regarding shoplifting, driving, alcohol or assault.
The other conversation is about the quality of life, in terms of social media, that parents would want their children to experience, and discussions to ensure adolescents enable peers to share that same quality of life.
I would not expect to hear any reasonable parent in the 21st century say ‘boys will be boys’ and mean ‘due to “gender” they have a licence to behave badly, or disrespect and abuse others’ – this is what that saying means! Causing detriment to another human being should not be excused by adults!
To say ‘boys will be boys’ in circumstances that are detrimental to young women, is to give explicit permission to engage in sexist, offensive or inappropriate sexual conduct; it’s both ignorant and arrogant.
We would hope that adults – parents and teachers – have the ability to stand in the shoes of the impacted young woman, and see it from her perspective.
The question I pose is: what if it was your daughter who was the victim? Is it still frivolous or funny behaviour? I think not.
Barbara: How does all this impact later on, at university and in the workplace?
In my work, I see many young people entering workplaces as trainees, apprentices, graduates and volunteers with a limited understanding of what is allowable and appropriate in a professional context with respect to social media.
Every person in a workplace irrespective of age or employment status has an obligation to engage in a way that is professional – to treat people with dignity and respect. The mindset that ‘boys will be boys’ to excuse inappropriate conduct certainly fails to meet minimum standards in 21st century workplaces.
Further, breaches of privacy, sexual harassment, vilification, stalking, bullying or abuse will bring an organisation into disrepute.
Individuals are personally accountable and potentially liable for their behaviour at work and outside of work when engaging with people known to them through work.
Young people can find their employment comes to a swift end because they engage inappropriately on social media. Schools have an obligation to ensure that there is education about boundaries. Enforcing such boundaries in relation to social media at school is essential preparation for a successful life beyond.
Susan Halliday
Actively engaged in complex investigations across all sectors, Susan was the inaugural Chair of the Victorian Institute of Teaching, and has previously served as Australia’s Sex Discrimination and Disability Discrimination Commissioners. A member of the federal government’s Defence Abusive Response Taskforce, Susan is a human rights, employment law and workplace culture specialist.
Barbara Pesel
Managing Director of award-winning strategic communications consultancy Pesel & Carr, Barbara integrates both traditional and digital communications techniques to achieve business outcomes – with a particular focus on the education, innovation and sport sectors.
Barbara and Susan’s seminar on August 24 will offer both legal insights and reputational perspectives on the rapidly changing risks and rewards of social media in workplace settings. Head to the trybooking link for more information: www.trybooking.com/MLLB.
