Celebrating Rice House and Reinforcing Responsible Social Media Use

Congratulations to Rice House, led by House Leader Nicole Hexter and House Captains Ruby Byrne, Angus Kasbach, Ruby Lavery, and Bridie Orchard, for their contributions to an outstanding House Assembly last Friday. The event was a powerful showcase of the deep talent and spirit that exists within our Damascus community.

The assembly featured a diverse range of student-led participation, including musical performances, a creative and reflective profile of House Founder Edmund Rice, a lively and entertaining Year 12 dance, and a heartfelt acknowledgment of Do It For Dolly Day—an important reminder of our collective responsibility to promote kindness and stand against bullying.

Following this assembly, our Year 8 and 9 Coordinators, Shaun O’Loughlin and Kateyln Clark took the opportunity to revisit the importance of responsible social media use with students. The College has recently been made aware of posts on popular social media platforms that reference Damascus students under official College branding. We take these matters seriously, and it's vital that all members of our community understand the potential impact of their digital footprint. In addition to this some of the comments made are hurtful and damaging to students' mental health and wellbeing. In the event that students have been identified parents and carers have the right to pursue these matters through Victoria Police.

We urge all parents and carers to remain actively engaged in monitoring their child's social media activity. As part of recent legislative changes, age-restricted social media platforms are now required to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating accounts.

We encourage families to review these new guidelines, which are detailed in the Australian Government’s fact sheet, available here:
👉 Social Media Minimum Age and Age Assurance Trial Fact Sheet

As always, we thank you for your continued support in nurturing a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all Damascus College students.

Regards,

Andy Robertson