Our monthly update shines a spotlight on the great work done to inform and empower New Zealanders No images? Click here MAY NEWSLETTER Kia ora koutou Collaboration, education and awareness are strong themes across our mahi through April and May. We are very happy to profile Microsoft's Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit which has been launched in NZ and Australia. We've been representing in person and talking with students about our research on pornography. And we continue to highlight and explain the ratings for new releases both in cinema and on streaming platforms with our 'Quick Takes'. Our newsletters generally talk about topics like sex, drugs, and the media content landscape. Our aim is to have difficult conversations and shine a light on ways to reduce harm for New Zealanders. If you know someone who should receive these updates, please share our newsletter or encourage them to subscribe here. Be sure to follow our socials too. Aroha atu, aroha mai, tātou i a tātou — Chief Censor Caroline Flora #Mātakitahi #WatchTogether #Kōrerotahi #TalkTogether Image credit: Rebecca McMillan Photography NZ Sign Language Week 8 to 14 May 2023 Celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Turi, NZ Sign Language Week, as together we can make sign language thrive. Chief Censor Caroline Flora shared a sign language message of support on our social channels last week in recognition of the beautiful living and evolving language that is New Zealand Sign. Xbox releases Gaming Safety Toolkit Microsoft have launched their Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit which spotlights parental and player controls available on Xbox and within the Xbox Family Settings App. We provided advice and support alongside organisations across Australia and New Zealand with expertise in children’s online safety. The toolkit offers guidance for parents as well as practical case studies by age. Helping parents to understand and make use of safety features is important work that we champion and strive for in our mahi. We support and celebrate Microsoft’s toolkit, as we do any gaming and streaming platform highlighting the ways to make entertainment safe for everyone. This toolkit is practical and features age-appropriate case studies that are eye-opening and incredibly relevant. Where to find the toolkit on the Xbox site: Xbox family settings: peace of mind for parents | Xbox (NZ) Changing the conversation about porn, in person This month Kate Whitaker, Senior Advisor - Education and Outreach was thrilled to return to the classroom to facilitate workshops with the Year 12 cohort at a local high school as part of their Sexuality Day. Using her teaching background and the Ka huri i te korero – changing the conversation about pornography module, Kate created a safe space for rangatahi to share their thoughts and ideas using a variety of small group and interactive activities to encourage active participation on what can be a tricky topic. Overall, the day was a great success with lots of kōrero about our Growing up with porn research and how porn can impact our relationships, sexuality and well-being. If you are interested in a similar workshop being facilitated at your school, please get in touch – we would love to work with your rangatahi. ![]() ![]() Survey: Women of Colour in the Public Sector NetworkThe Women of Colour in the Public Sector (WOCPSN) working group are in the process of establishing a network for women of colour and allies in the public sector. Part of the planning includes a pre-launch survey to find out more about the experiences of women of colour in the public sector. This will help the working group further understand the challenges and how the network can provide opportunities and value to its members. WOCPSN and this survey is for New Zealand public sector employees who identify as a woman of colour or as allies. The survey is open from Monday 8 May to Wednesday 31 May 2023. Complete the survey here. And hot off the press: registrations are now open for the National Women in the Public Service Summit 2023 where our own Caroline Flora will be leading a session on 'a day in the life of the Chief Censor'. Find out more. Leaders of Tomorrow? Leaders of today!New Zealand Youth Week is a great time to celebrate young people by recognising their valuable contributions and achievements. Keeping it safe in the gaming space Keeping our tamariki safe in the online world is an-ever constant worry for parents and caregivers. Games are an excellent way to learn, to be entertained, and stimulated. They can also expose people to things they don’t want to see, or that they’re not ready to see. Check out our blog about the different parental controls and safety features that can help you keep your tamariki safe. What’s really going on there? Bullying IRL vs on-screen As adults it is easy for us to feel shocked by confronting bullying scenes and themes, and all we want to do is bubble wrap our tamariki and rangatahi so they don’t have to feel the same pain as the characters. We wanted to find out if we should be stricter when it comes to age-ratings and content warnings so we asked rangatahi for their thoughts. Read their thoughts on our blog! Why did Beef get this classification?16: Offensive language, sex scenes, violence In this dark comedy-drama series, a feud between two individuals is caused by a road rage incident, unleashing their deepest and darkest impulses. This series was self-rated by Netflix and received a 16: Offensive language, sex scenes and violence. Read our Quick Take for a breakdown of the rating. Why did Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 get this rating?M: Violence and offensive language Still coming to terms with the loss of Gamora, the Guardians of the Galaxy are faced with the death of another member. They will do everything to save them. This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body and received an M: Violence and offensive language. Read our Quick Take for a breakdown of the rating. Why did Hypnotic get this rating?R13: Violence and content that may disturb Rourke is struggling to come to terms with his daughter being kidnapped and never found. When he uncovers a government conspiracy to train people with mind control powers, he realises they might have something to do with his daughter’s disappearance. This film was classified by Te Mana Whakaatu – Classification Office and received an R13: Violence and content that may disturb. Read our Quick Take for a breakdown of the rating. ![]() Because our work involves a broad knowledge of the vast online landscape, we consume a lot of media in the office. Here are just a few of the things we’ve found relevant and informative over the past month. Take a break, with these media lunch items. Christchurch Call, increase in online abuse helped form the new Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit (Newshub) Four ways to take control of social media algorithms to get the content you actually want (Stuff.co.nz) Jarrod Gilbert: The grey area of white supremacy - non-white followers (NZ Herald)
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