Blog – Latest stories tagged ''

Should head teachers report parents to the authorities who allow their children to play adult-rated video games?

Imagine a conversation:

“Dad, can I play the new video game?”

“No, it’s an 18 certificate game and you’re not 18.”

“Awww Dad, please?”

“No, because if you do and school finds out, they may report me to the police or social services!”

Does this sound crazy? Do schools have a right to ‘interfere’ directly in parent’s decisions that affect their children; after all, they have a duty to protect their students against unsuitable material? Or, is this a step too far? Surely, it is not the place of schools to police the day-to-day activities of the upbringing of children by parents - they are the ones that know their offspring and how mature they are with regard to the content they consume?

This is exactly the nature of a warning that has been issued by the ‘Nantwich Education Partnership’ (a group of 15 primary schools and one secondary school) in Cheshire this week, when the head teachers of the schools found that some children were being allowed to watch and play age-inappropriate games that contained high levels of violence and sexual content.

In a letter to parents, the head teachers have stated that playing these games and also allowing under-age access to social media sites such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘WhatsApp’ could lead to “early sexualised behaviour” and could render children “vulnerable” to grooming for sexual exploitation or extreme violence.

They continued the letter: “If your child is allowed to have inappropriate access to any game or associated product that is designated 18+, we are advised to contact the police and children’s social care as this is deemed neglectful.”

It is true that schools and teachers have a duty with regard to the safeguarding of their students, but is this policy taking that duty too far? Surely, this is a trivial matter that should be left to parents? But consider for a moment how often have you overheard young students in school enthusing over the latest releases of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ or ‘Gears of War’, both of which are certified 18 years and older, and done nothing about it? And yet, if we overheard students talking about frequently watching pornography at home, with their parent’s permission, we might take it more seriously.

A problem occurs here when technophobic parents, who don’t understand the content of games and rightly base their decision not to allow their child access to a particular game on its age-rating; however, peer-pressure then occurs on their child from their classmates, whose parent’s may not be so fastidious when it comes to monitoring the games that their children are playing. This then manifests itself as constant nagging by the child who, over time, wears the parent down until they inevitably, but reluctantly agree to let them play. Is it right that these parents should have a knock on the door from the police or social services?

Schools do find themselves in a difficult predicament. On the one hand, they must be seen by the inspection authorities to have good quality safeguarding policies in place in order to protect their students from unsuitable material; however, on the other hand most head teachers are very reluctant to alienate parents by threatening serious intervention into the family unit with regard to what a lot parents would argue is a fairly trivial matter and nothing to do with schools.

Do you agree with what the head teachers in Cheshire are proposing to do? Do you think that schools should intervene to protect children from inappropriate material? Do you think that this is going too far and schools have no right to interfere in parental decisions? We would love to hear your comments regarding this difficult subject.

You can also take part in a poll on the subject by clicking here.

Childnet launch the 6th Childnet Film Competition in partnership with PhonepayPlus

Childnet have launched the 6th Childnet Film Competition to encourage young people to create a short film to educate their peers about staying safe online. Teaming up with the UK regulator, PhonepayPlus, this year’s competition will boast a whole new category and a new upper age limit of 18 years, meaning that even more schools and youth groups can get involved!

As Becky Nancarrow, Education Projects Officer at Childnet, said "for the last 5 years our film competition has given primary and secondary schools, as well as youth organisations, from across the UK, the challenge of creating a short film about internet safety. This year secondary schools will be able to get even more creative, as they are given the opportunity to illustrate another part of their digital lives through film.”

This introduction of a 2nd category for secondary age pupils is as a result of Childnet teaming with up with UK premium rate services regulator PhonepayPlus' PhoneBrain competition. The PhoneBrain category aims to help young people understand the costs involved in using premium rate services, like buying apps and entering text or phone competitions without getting charged more than expected.

As Peter Morton, Head of Communications at PhonepayPlus explained “the PhoneBrain competition aims to engage and educate as many young people as possible in using their phones safely and confidently without stacking up unexpectedly high bills. Last year’s competition saw entries from schools and youth groups from across the country and we are really pleased to be working in partnership with Childnet this year to reach even more people with the competition.”

Across all three categories Childnet are looking for creative, imaginative films which reflect a positive and inspiring message. The top three films in each category will be invited to a private screening at the BFI in London and the winners will be awarded film kits, including a Canon DSLR and green screen, for their schools.

Think your school or youth organisation has what it takes? Then here’s how to enter:

Choose your category and follow the competition brief:

• Primary (7 -11 year olds) – a 60 second film exploring the theme, A good online friend is someone who…
  
• Secondary (11 – 18 year olds) – a 2 minute film exploring the theme, A better internet is up to us
  
• PhoneBrain (11 – 18 year olds) – a 2 minute film exploring the theme, App Traps & Bill Shock – Do you know how much your phone is costing you?

If you would like to register a group of talented young people you know, then please send an email to film@childnet.com. The closing date for entries is Friday 12th June 2015 at 5pm

Winning team from the Primary category 2014:

“Taking part gave the children a defined goal to aim for and the ability to better understand the needs for vigilance online. In addition, they picked up skills in planning, filming and editing the final entry which are not only valuable, but things they can take forward into other projects at home and school.

Winning the competition has been such a boost for the school and the children involved…This has turned what was easily a very rewarding experience, into something much more enriching and far-reaching.”

Winning team from the Secondary category 2014:

“They enjoyed the opportunity to create something focussed and demonstrate their knowledge of the topic as well as showcasing their technical skills. As a school we have encouraged students to be very conscious of their online presence and the films created this year demonstrated the understanding that the girls have developed. As for winning, the girls had convinced themselves that third place was honourable so to win was fabulous and the big cheque was taken on a tour of the London sights. The whole school is proud of the girls and we’re already encouraging the students to think of ideas for 2015.”

A back to basics explanation of e-safety in relation to schools

Back in 2012, Ofsted added e-safety to their school inspection requirements, placing more demands on the school timetable, school budgets and school staff. These requirements extended way beyond the classroom, encompassing the “whole school community” within the schools expected scope of delivery.

But now, almost 3 years later, it’s still easy to find staff members in schools who are unclear as to what e-safety is, let alone know who is responsible for making it part of the school agenda. Is it ICT? Is it pastoral? Is it SLT? In our experience, it’s everyone!

There are many statistics regarding the use of ‘connected devices’, incidents of cyber bullying and indeed teachers falling foul of inappropriate use of social media which support the need for e-safety awareness across the school, but what is e-safety?.

Firstly, let’s tackle the term ‘e-safety’. This can also be called ‘internet safety’, ‘online safety’ or ‘web safety’. E-safety is often defined as the safe and responsible use of technology. This includes the use of the internet and also other means of communication using electronic media (eg text messages, gaming devices, email etc).

In practice, e-safety is as much about behaviour as it is electronic security. E-safety in this context is classified into three areas of risk:

• Content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material
  
• Contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users
  
• Conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm.

Quoting directly from the Ofsted inspection briefing, e-safety (in the context of an inspection) is described as the school’s ability:

• to protect and educate pupils and staff in their use of technology
  
• to have the appropriate mechanisms to intervene and support any incident where appropriate.

A good way to see how your school fairs against the Ofsted requirements it to ask yourself these 5 questions:

1. How do you ensure that all staff receive appropriate online safety training that is relevant and regularly up to date?
   
2. What mechanisms does the school have in place to support pupils and staff facing online safety issues?
   
3. How does the school educate and support parents and whole school community with online safety?
   
4. Does the school have e-safety policies and acceptable use policies in place? How does the school know that they are clear and understood and respected by all?
   
5. Describe how your school educates children and young people to build knowledge, skills and capability when it comes to online safety? How do you assess its effectiveness?

These questions, along with examples of good / outstanding practice can be found here

It is essential that all members of school staff (teaching and non-teaching) are aware of e-safety and their own responsibilities when using the vast array of technologies now available for both personal and professional use. For pupils, it is no longer acceptable to simply have a firewall in place to prevent them accessing certain sites from the school network – the vast majority have a connected device in their pocket they could use instead, making education on this topic essential. And parents must also be made aware of e-safety to ensure that good practice continues outside of school grounds.

For more information about e-safety for staff, E-safety Support members can download a guide to E-safety from your dashboard. If you are not an E-safety Support member and would like a copy of this report, join our free membership package.