Riverland's St Francis of Assisi College warns of inappropriate Snapchat group

Australia Broadcast Center

25-06-2025

A South Australian high school has advised parents to talk to their children about a social media group chat "involving many" students containing images that could be used to "extort or exploit a young person".
In a letter to parents of year 8 students at St Francis of Assisi College in Renmark the school said it had been made aware of a "large chat group via Snapchat".
"We have been made aware that some of the images being shared through this Snapchat group could be classified as inappropriate and may be used to extort or exploit a young person," the letter said.
The letter, which has been seen by the ABC, said it was likely there were more chat groups on other social media platforms and encouraged families to "play an active role in the online activities" of their children.
"Additionally, families and students are encouraged to discuss the legal obligations of interacting in chat groups and on social media sites as some incidents can be investigated by police," the letter said.
The school confirmed the letter was sent at the start of the school year.
The college advised parents to instruct their children to "exit these groups" and said it was important to bring social media interactions "back to the same set of values and expectations as face-to-face interactions".
About 170 students in years 7 to 10 were enrolled at the school last year, including approximately 50 in year 8, according to its annual report.
The letter, which noted that social media companies had a "general requirement" for users to be 13 years of age or older, was sent out to parents months after Australia passed world-leading social media laws.
St Francis of Assisi principal Nathan Hayes said the letter was not sent in "response to specific messages or content" but rather as part of a "proactive approach" to providing information about appropriate social media use.
"The letter was intended to outline to parents what can happen and what to be aware of when holding conversations with their children," he said.
State Education Minister Blair Boyer said the content raised in the letter was "concerning" but praised the school for its response.
"I think it's great to see schools sending communications on things like this," he said.
"It's hard for schools to do, because it is bringing to light something that is unsavoury that might have happened at the school, and there's always implications for a school and their reputation when that happens."
The federal social media reforms, which will ban people younger than 16 from accessing some online platforms including Snapchat, were informed by a review undertaken by the SA government as part of its own draft laws.
The legislation is expected to take effect in December and will require all Australians to demonstrate they are 16 or older when logging in to most major platforms.
Mr Boyer said part of the intention of the ban was to prevent instances such as the one raised in the letter sent by St Francis of Assisi.
"I would say that this case we're talking about here is a very good example of exactly what the legislation is trying to get at," Mr Boyer said.
Neil Tippett, a lecturer in learning science and development at the University of SA Education Futures, said there were positives and negatives regarding social media use among young people.
He said bans were "simplistic" and not the answer "in isolation" to address online safety concerns.
"We need to have all this wraparound support and we need to be looking at what parents are doing, how we can support parents to engage with their children and talk about responsible social media usage," Dr Tippett said.
"How can we support the children in schools to be using social media in a fair way — a way that supports them? And we need to look at the providers themselves.
"We need to put some of this back on them and they need to take some responsibility about how their users are using their platforms responsibly."
Mr Boyer said the ban would not be the "silver bullet" but was an important step in addressing a "complex" problem.