Questions after claims ‘too many gaming sites to block’ on Fife pupils’ iPads
Questions are to be put to Fife Council leaders this week over a claim that teachers have been told not to report harmful gaming sites accessed on school devices - because there are “too many to block.”
Pupils from P6 to sixth year have been given personal iPads in an ambitious £50million project which aims to transform learning in the region’s schools.
It has been hailed a huge success with over 27,000 devices issued to youngsters, and almost 4000 to teaching staff, helping to create more inclusive, engaging and accessible learning environments.
But claims were made earlier this month by a small pressure group - one previously unknown to some councillors - that a headteacher had “inadvertently” revealed that the council has refused staff requests to block gaming sites because there are so many.
Unplug.Scot is a parent led group which wants a low-tech approach to teaching in classrooms with limits on screen time.
It has a website consisting of little more than a holding page with little information, and is based around a WhatsApp group with around 380 members Scotland wide - with a sub-group for Fife parents.
Councillor Kathleen Leslie, convener of the council’s education scrutiny committee, said: “ I am wary of sites that have such little transparency. If they have specific cases they need to step forward and provide any information they have.”
Unplug.Scot Parents said parents who joined its group say children’s access to addictive gaming sites on school devices has already created behaviour issues for many.
Harry Amies, co-founder, said: “These gaming sites are effectively honeytraps. They are deliberately designed to bypass school filters and to lure kids with free addictive games.
“Many unblocked gaming sites also have hidden text and video chat rooms making them a severe sextortion and grooming risk - indeed parents in Scotland have discovered explicit chats on these gaming sites involving young children in which the children are coaxed into sharing personal contact details.”
“For Fife Council to be secretly allowing children to access them and not only discouraging, but blocking teachers from reporting them is an astounding failure in duty of care. It seems the deliberate lack of protection from these sites - sites that are known to cause harm, both through addiction and child exploitation does leave them exposed to substantial negligence claims should a child come to harm from usage of their devices."
Mr Amies said appropriate monitoring was currently impossible with Fife devices as” there is no report given to parents on how long children have spent gaming in school.”
He added: “Fife's internal policy to refuse to block addictive gaming sites for children exposes children to harm. Their failure to publicise this 'no-block' policy to parents, while telling them that their systems ensure safe browsing on any WiFi is actively putting children in harm’s way and exposing them to severe health risk.”
“This is no longer an education question for councils, this is a child health issue. It is time for the Cabinet Secretary for Health to step in and issue country-wide statutory guidance to councils before more children suffer serious mental health issues.”
Cllr Leslie (Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy, Conservatives) said Fife was not the first local authority to introduce iPads to classrooms - and before the initiative launched, they used desktop and laptop PCs.
She said: “The council has repeatedly stated that any issues with sites that need to be blocked are flagged up and are blocked. This was never ‘here is the iPad and on you go’ - the monitoring is continuous and rigorous. That has always been the understanding and it continues to be the case. Our teachers are professionals and have all also had time allocated for training on using the iPads and digital content.
“If however, any young people are accessing inappropriate sites then it is imperative that the local authority continues to work to block them. With online content on any device it is a constant to keep ahead of those looking to make mischief. This is about continuing to be a step ahead of those seeking to have children access content they should not be near. That is the responsibility of everyone.
“Learning to use technology in a safe and regulated environment with additional learning tools, is concurrent with the world we live in. I am more concerned about the content children are accessing on social media via their phones which is an issue completely outside of education.”
A number of questions have been tabled at Thursday’s meeting of the full council.
Councillor Alycia Hayes (East Neuk and Landward, SNP) wants to know what steps have been taken to reassure parents beyond the internal briefing on the issues blocking gaming sites, how does the education service monitor what parents/carers are doing to monitor the safety of their children online when using council provided devices.