Posted: 10th Feb, 2005 By: MarkJ
The sales director of Securus, Bill Jenkins, has responded to yesterdays report by the London School of Economics into the risks of children using the Internet. They found that many children were able to get around safeguards:
"We have found widespread unacceptable internet behaviour taking place in the overwhelming majority of schools. The most able secondary pupils are expert at circumventing internet blocking and filtering measures, they see this as a challenge. Attempting to restrict access is not the answer children need the freedom to act responsibly knowing the consequences if they do not and knowing that their actions will be monitored and inappropriate behaviour captured.
In schools such as the Royal Alexandra and Albert, a state boarding school in Reigate, educating pupils to use the internet responsibly is a central part of the behaviour management philosophy of the school, and the emphasis on following up inappropriate use has led to extremely low levels of misuse.
As Dr Livingstone suggests, more effort is needed to safeguard children. Parents in partnership with schools need to know exactly what is happening on their childs PC without having to peer continuously over their shoulder, and Securus Software Ltd is actively fostering and sponsoring these links. In order to protect the more able, adventurous teenagers, adults need a comprehensive tool to alert and serve as an early warning system so they can discuss the specific dangers that child is facing in each new situation."