A new Australian drama on SBS called ‘The Hunting’ examines one of the increasingly prominent issues faced by young people, families and school communities today: the sharing of intimate images and/or videos without consent. Sadly, variations of this form of image-based abuse are unfolding across Australia — and the series accurately depicts this in its storyline and the community-wide fall out of a teen photo scandal, where the collision of technology and sexual exploration can be devastating to the individual (esafety.gov.au).

Each year as part of our pastoral program and PEHPE curriculum, every  student  is encouraged to engage in a dialogue around making safe choices and the appropriate use of information technologies including handheld devices and social media. Secondly, the students have also been addressed by Police from the local area command and attended the “Cheap Thrills” production  on making smart choices. All of which are designed to educate adolescents on the ramifications of making safe choices and the mismanaging of their digital footprint and how best to seek assistance should they find themselves in a situation which causes discomfort.

Whilst we do not believe that the content of ‘The Hunting’ is universally age-appropriate for our whole Hennessy community (7-12) we would recommend, and would be happy to support, a dialogue around some of the themes contained within the program at home. You might consider viewing the program before sharing with your child in order to gauge the appropriateness, and how you might approach these contemporary problems before conversation.

Below are a number of resources endorsed by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner that have been developed to assist in initiating a productive conversation:

• SBS OnDemand, The Hunting: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1561754179979/the-hunting-starts-1-august-sbs
• E-safety Commissioner Article: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/newsroom/blog/spotlight-on-nude-photo-sharing-helping-parents-and-teachers-respond
• Parent Discussion Guide: https://www.sbs.com.au/sites/sbs.com.au.home/files/sbs_learn_esafety_the_hunting_parent_discussion_guide.pdf

Please don’t hesitate to make contact if you think that your child would benefit from strategies to help manage the perceived expectations of teenagers in a climate which is becoming ever reliant on handheld devices, social connectivity and challenged to make smart choices.