A distraught father has made an impassioned plea to the New South Wales government for help after his 14-year-old son took his own life.
Jason Woodhouse wants access to his son Corey’s school emails to see if the 14-year-old was bullied into suicide in August 2023.
Mr Woodhouse told a public cabinet meeting in Orange, 257km northwest of Sydney, on Friday that the Department of Education has refused to show him Corey’s emails.
He told the Community Cabinet session, attended by Premier Chris Minns and Education Minister Prue Car, that he has been in a battle with the department for eight months to gain access.
Mr Woodhouse said Corey’s school-assigned email address had been used to set up other accounts and he wanted to know what was discussed in the messages.
Corey Woodhouse (photo) took his own life in August 2023 at the age of 14. His father wants access to his school emails to see if he has been bullied into suicide
“I requested a copy of all those emails and access to the education department email so I can see what my son was talking about in the 2,300 emails in his education account that Discord(s) Reflect Snapchat,” he said .
“The emails are not monitored because they talk about bullying, murder… there are words of murder.”
Mr Woodhouse said he had spoken to the school principal, contacted the department and filed a Freedom of Information request, but had still not been given access to the account.
“What will the education department do about monitoring the emails of all our children, to take away the ability to create external accounts and take away a parent’s right not to monitor their child’s online activity ?’ he asked Mrs. Car.
In response to 7NewsThe minister said she could not imagine what Mr Woodhouse and his family had gone through and apologized for the role the department had played in adding to their trauma.
Ms Car said she would investigate what had happened and the Department of Education secretary would call Mr Woodhouse.
“You’ve raised a really important issue that I think is on every parent in NSW’s mind when it comes to keeping our children safe online,” she said.
‘We have to do better. That particular concern about monitoring emails, I need to address that.
Jason Woodhouse (pictured) has been fighting for eight months to gain access to his son’s emails
“But the issue of online safety for our children is something that concerns everyone, including me.”
The minister added: ‘It is dangerous and we must do everything possible to ensure we monitor what is happening online, especially on forums we own through education emails accessed through school to have.’
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