Teacher looked at porn websites in lessons

[elsiegee40]

Teacher admits looking at porn during lessons - Times Online

 

A teacher has admitted looking at p*rnographic websites during lessons and calling s*x-lines from school telephones.

 

Surely a school should have some web filtering? Or was he using mobile broadband? And as for the phone calls...

[GrumbleDook]

This is one of a number of things that annoy me about news reporting about schools at the moment.

 

Instead of finding out what sort of filters are used, what level they were set at, whether the connection was via an RBC / LA connection of a commercially purchased connect, whether the school gives preferential (unfltered?) access to staff, whether the connection blocks via the list from IWF ... no, they give limited information that just paints the wrong picture of how filters work (or can work) in schools.

 

In the East Midlands there is a serious look at how schools are using their filters and in Northants (YMMV for other LAs) we will be getting each school to sign off the filter level they presently have as part of our eSafety program. This will have to be signed off by the Head (and hopefully the Chair of Governors) as it is they who are legally responsible for the safeguarding of children in schools.

 

Not only is this forcing a level of accountability it is also protection for the IT staff in schools because when someone from further up the chain starts demanding to know why it was possible to see inappropriate sites then you have a piece of paper to say "We told you about the filters and so did the LA!"

 

We just don't know in the case reported the full story. For all we know, the teacher in question might have been using a proxy anonymiser!

[webman]

... and it seems he gets to keep his job!

 

As one commenter pointed out, if this had happened in industry or a business workplace, they would have been sacked on the spot. But no, teachers, who have direct responsibility of 30 children (read: minors) are allowed to continue after these circumstances?? Ludicrous.

 

Teachers really are untouchable.

[tom_newton]

I don't know - in industry it is not always quite as easy as "aha, porn!" *boot*

 

One of the big differences between school and commercial filtering is that in school, the administrator tends to (have to?) trust the adults - ie. they often get some form of override ability. This - along with their exposure to kids who are always at the forefront of bypass tools - may make it easier for a teacher to access objectionable material than an office worker, for example.

 

Still - I have to agree with GD - most (all?) schools make an effort towards filtering. Yes, not all filters are born equal, but to say that the school is totally to blame is harsh, particularly given that guidelines on the subject are scarce.

[browolf]

thats one good reason for county councils doing forced filtering upstream: there's no override ability and the people who control it are out of reach. And there's no chance a teacher can go to senior management and override internal policies, cos some would, if they could.

[elsiegee40]

thats one good reason for county councils doing forced filtering upstream: there's no override ability and the people who control it are out of reach. And there's no chance a teacher can go to senior management and override internal policies, cos some would, if they could.

 

But all it takes is a mobile broadband dongle used on a laptop (even a school one set up for home use). There's no way of stopping it, I think

[K.C.Leblanc]

But all it takes is a mobile broadband dongle used on a laptop (even a school one set up for home use). There's no way of stopping it, I think

 

You still have to leave some of it down to hoping the people you employ are profesional. There's nothing to stop someone bringing a dodgy magazine into work. It used to work with a chap (not in a school) who had 100s in his locker.

[browolf]

But all it takes is a mobile broadband dongle used on a laptop (even a school one set up for home use). There's no way of stopping it, I think

 

That's true. least with the filtering there's no chance of "accidently" going on things. whereas broadband dongles is more active intent of "getting round the system".

[Midget]

there is only one solution. Ban Children! if there were no children in that building, it wouldnt be a problem

[GrumbleDook]

Filters work on 3 levels.

 

1 > IWF list ... a compulsory list that is updated daily to ensure a base line of filters

 

2 > RBC / LA / School level filtering ... ensuring the correct level of filters to the appropriate user is important. The filters are there for the safeguarding of users (*all* users) but the service they filter has to be usable.

 

3 > Client level ... this covers multiple areas from anti-virus / anti-spyware / anti-malware through to client based logging systems that capture the inappropriate use of the individual machine via screen content (colour levels of images or keylogging of targeted words for bullying, grooming, adult content, etc). A number of there tools also perform offline scanning and upload it back to the school server for further analysis (usually automated) and will notify the appropriate person.

 

To do all the above costs money ... but it then gives comprehensive cover and allows you to relax one area (usually the filters) as it can be caught at client level if innapropriate.

[tom_newton]

It should be noted that the IWF list only covers a particularly unhealthy subset of porn... one that I, for one, am glad we can just pass on to them when we get it reported!