Health and Safety

What health and safety issues are associated with laptop use?

Instruction on use of laptops in a good ergonomic environment will be presented to students at the start of each year and throughout the program. This will focus on good posture with attention to the position of the chair, desk and laptop. Additionally, we advise students to avoid looking at any screen for prolonged periods.

Laptop use by students at school will differ greatly from laptop users in the workplace. Generally, students will not be seated in the same place for long periods of time whilst using the laptop and are likely to take frequent breaks during the class and throughout the day.

Evidence from other laptop programs is that the combination of educating students about good practice and young peopleʼs natural habit of changing posture frequently addresses the issue of physically safe use successfully.

Will it increase the incidence of cyber-bullying ?

Like mobile phones, email and messaging systems can be used to bully others. It is essential that all members of the community, students, parents and staff are aware of the potential for cyber-bullying and are aware of the College's Harassment and Acceptable Use policies. To date it has not been a major problem and any incident of cyber-bullying reported would be investigated and dealt with in accordance of theses policies. The laptop program includes a strong focus on students developing themselves as good cyber Citizens.