Swoosh and Glide story time video

Hi, I'm Jimmy Rees and today we're reading Swoosh, Glide and Rule Number 5 from the eSafety Commissioner.

[Jimmy reads]

'They will be here soon,' said the sugar glider mum, as twins Swoosh and Glide waited in their old river gum.

'Coooeee, sleepover time!' yelled their uncle in a flash, as he landed with their cousins River, Reed and Ash.

After they had all hugged and said a warm 'hello', they played Statues and Chasey and other games you may know.

They whispered and giggled as they played Hide-and-Seek, while Swoosh counted numbers and tried not to peek.

What's the time, Mr Wolf? was the next game to play. Cousin Ash called 'Dinner time' and they all ran away.

The 'big wolf' made Swoosh feel a bit funny inside. This feeling made Swoosh want to run away and hide.

It was time for a rest when a sight met their eyes. Grandma and Grandpa were calling out 'SURPRISE!'

They'd called on their new tablet straight to the hollow. Glide asked them if they had special rules to follow.

The grandparents asked, 'What rules do you mean?'

1. 'Be kind, take turns!'

2. 'At dinner time no screen!'

3. 'Use it only in shared spaces!' Glide proudly said.

4. 'Ask before you use it!'

and 5. 'No taking screens to bed!'

Mum finished stirring and called 'Dinner will be soon. 'Say goodbye. Time to go. We'll chat tomorrow afternoon.

'Put the tablet away, I need some help please. We need cups and saucers for our sweet leaf teas.'

While the others played possum games and Mum stirred the soup, Swoosh took the tablet and hid from the group.

A silly video made Swoosh laugh so hard, it was lots of fun. Swoosh clicked on another, and another, and then another one.

But the last one was not nice or fun anymore. Swoosh dropped the tablet and curled up on the floor.

Glide ran to help. 'What can we do?' they said to each other. 'Put it away?' 'Turn it off?' They decided to ask their mother.

Swoosh soon told her, 'Something not nice was on the screen. It made me feel funny in my tummy, like when Mr Wolf screamed.'

Mum held their little hands and told them as she knelt, that they did the right thing to come to her for help.

Uncle declared, 'If something's not right while you're on a device, go quickly to your grown-up and ask for advice.'

He pressed on a button and a happy tune came on. 'Here's something that I wrote called My Family Rules song.'

Then Uncle saw the time and waved a fond goodbye. 'Got to go. Sun's up soon, so I really must fly.'

He jumped off that old river gum's branch with an almighty leap, looping to his homely hollow for a good day's sleep.

The children sat down, the table was cleared, a last game of Snap, all sugar gliders cheered.

'The sun's coming up,' said Mum with a yawn. 'It's time for bed, it's getting close to dawn.'

In bed Mum gave everyone a warm kiss goodnight and said, 'Night, night, sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite.'

And in the wink of an eye the three cousins and twins were sound asleep and dreaming of their favourite things.

With the little ones asleep before early morning's glow, Mum set off to bed on her tippy tiptoes.

But guess what happened as she watched Bush News Live? Swoosh, shuffled in and called, 'MUM! Rule Number 5!?'

And that's the end of the story. What did you think?

Do you have family rules at home?

Remember to always ask for help when you're online, just like Swoosh and Glide.

Well that was fun. I'm Jimmy Rees. Goodbye.