Similar to the CEOP button

[localzuk]

I've been thinking about the child safety aspect of our network today and one of the things in the media is the 'CEOP button'. Whilst this concept is a good one, I can see it being abused by random pupils reporting things they shouldn't be.

So, what I was thinking is creating a similar item which is an Internet Explorer Addon (so it adds a button to the toolbar at the top). This would then simply connect to a web service, logging the site details, a screenshot of the site, the pupil name etc... and then this data would be made available to our child protection officer to investigate.

What do people think?

[Edu-IT]

The CEOP button asks for quite a lot of information, I'm sure CEOP have measures in place to filter out the rubbish.

[localzuk]

The CEOP button asks for quite a lot of information, I'm sure CEOP have measures in place to filter out the rubbish.

The issue is also that the school should be in the know about what is happening with their own pupils. If they don't then they aren't really fulfilling their obligations for child protection. Can you imagine if a parent found out that their child had found something in school, used the CEOP button, and not told the school. So when the parent asks the school about it, the school has zero knowledge. Not a good situation.

[plexer]

Could you code it so that as well as laerting the school for the CP staff that the info is copied to CEOP?

Ben

[localzuk]

Could you code it so that as well as laerting the school for the CP staff that the info is copied to CEOP?

Ben

Not really - the CEOP button goes through a long winded clicking process to gather its info. Unless they have an email address it could be sent to. Anyone have an email address which this could be sent direct to?

[GrumbleDook]

To some extent the CEOP button is meant to be independent and not 'controlled' by the school If it was then some students might not use it as it may be a member of school staff they are reporting and the school is the only place they can get net access.

I would suggest keeping the CEOP button but also have an additional one if someone wants to book an appointment with a school mentor about this or other issues ... that way you can tie it into dealing with bullying, stress, medical issues ... but give the kids a chance to take it whichever way they want.

Educating the students about what is best to use is part of the setup of this too ... they will already spend time with their tutor / class teacher (delete as appropriate for key stage) and pastoral care is an important part of this role ... get it all tied in together, but allow a student to approach someone independently.

I remember the hassle when at school when ChildLine came out as some staff refused to tell us kids about it as they felt we should always go to them first ... a few other teachers were happy to palm it off onto ChildLine so it was no longer their problem ... but a few did explain the various options and helped us to decide which could be the most appropriate.