The Network’s mission is to provide students a positive space to engage with the world about their interests, share their knowledge, encourage curious learners, engage in unique learning experiences, and connect with other students who are just as excited about their interests as they are. There are a variety of ways students can express themselves on The Network including helping others, sharing their project photos, videos, messaging friends, creating an event or group or adding content to their profile, and more.
Definitions
- Children, Child means a child under the age of 13.
- Parent refers to the Child’s parent or legal guardian.
- Admin refers to authorised Network administrators.
- Service refers to The Network platform and its various features such as, but not limited to chat, events, and online learning.
- Chat Features refers to the Services features facilitating any form of communication.
- Users refers to any person who uses the Services.
Registering Your Child
Internationally, children below 13 years (or age relevant to your country) are not permitted to independently sign up to social chat spaces due to child protection laws in such as COPPA and GDPR. To register an account for your child on The Network you must adhere to specific rules and regulations and have a clear understanding that you will ensure your child’s appropriate use and safety on The Network.
Child Identification in Public Places
All Child accounts will have a badge so that in public spaces adults know they are responding to a child. Child accounts cannot be seen or searched for in the Member directory. The badge also controls several backend system permissions and restrictions discussed further in this document.
Events
All Users, regardless of age may engage in live events hosted on Zoom (or similar) and must use a camera so we confirm who they are. Any User who does not use a camera will not be permitted to participate in an event. Users can request to create a live presentation to the community. Children can also host their own events/clubs for other Children. It is the responsibility of the Child’s Parent to supervise the Child during the event.
Communication with Other Members
Private Direct Messages
Children and other Users (adults) are restricted from communicating with one another through private messages. Children can Direct Message one another.
Open Forums – Discussions
Children are able to communicate with other Users without restriction through Discussions (in public Forums and Groups).
Student Forums – Discussions
If the Parent so chooses, the student can be added to the Student Group which only allows Children as members, and has its own Discussion Forum. In this Forum only Children can create and reply to Discussions. This cannot be accessed or viewed by other Users except for Admin. This private Child space will have Child moderators and also an adult Admin who can see posts that are made. The Parent will be notified of any disputes as they are being resolved.
It is your decision whether your child obtains access to the Student Group. Regardless of where the Child has access it will be your responsibility to ensure that they are engaging in an appropriate manner and also to ensure their online safety.
Online Safety
Please ensure your Child has awareness of online safety and does not disclose their address, phone number etc. to anyone, including other Children. If Children want to connect outside the Service we recommend doing so by meeting the Parent of the other Child, before any identifying data is shared.
Student Behavior
The vast majority of Children engage in a polite and respectful way. Online bullying is a serious issue and Children will be discouraged from mocking or bullying in any form on The Network.
If Admin requests a Child to change an inappropriate avatar picture, remove a post, or engage other more respectfully and is ignored, the Child account will be suspended.
Depending on the severity of the inappropriate behavior, i.e. negativity towards others, bullying, discrimination, swearing, and inappropriate content, a Child may be removed from the Service. If this occurs you will be notified, with the reason why. If the offence is less severe there may be a suspension period and the Child’s account will become active again at a later date.
Media Release
On occasion Children will attend events and want to be filmed to post on their social media. To see an example of this please see this link. For your Child to be filmed for any Network media release you will be required to sign an additional Child Media Release Consent Form.
Please discuss the following with your child before creating their account.
Children who use the interactive features through the Services should never provide personal information about themselves or any third party and should not attempt to circumvent any of our content-filtering techniques. We also encourage you to supervise your Child when they participate in such interactive activities through the Services. When participating in the Chat Feature of the Services, please be aware that the Users do so at their own risk and that chat content is being made available to and is accessible by The Network and other applicable Users. The Network is not responsible for whether or how such other Users utilise the information posted or transmitted through such features. However, if a User believes that another User has submitted inappropriate language or other content through the Chat Feature, that User can block the other User, as well as report the User to have their chat history reviewed by Admin. You can access the Block and Report features on any Child User’s Profile screen.
By using the Services, you consent to The Network’s right to record, monitor, and retain logs of all chat sessions between Users. Additionally, we may, but will not be obligated to, monitor, maintain, retain, censor, or otherwise remove chat content, at our sole discretion, without notice to you, for the purposes of preventing any violations of the Privacy Policy, our Terms & Conditions, or applicable laws, and to prevent abusive activity.
Any content and/or opinions posted or transmitted to these Chat Features or any other publicly available section of the Services are solely the opinions and responsibility of the person or User submitting them and do not reflect the opinions of The Network. Users of such Chat Features are responsible for whatever content they submit, and they, not The Network, have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, and appropriateness.