Fears for pupils with unchecked internet access

Peter Phillips, head of Cundall Manor, near Thirsk, wants to raise awareness of the risks of school pupils being exposed to bullying, offensive images and “undesirable people” through the use of social networking sites.

The conference will be aimed at highlighting the potential dangers new technologies are creating and ways in which schools and parents can work together to educate children.

The event, which could be held in Harrogate, will aim to give parents advise from police, schools and computer experts.

The plan comes as the Government is introducing new powers to allow teachers to confiscate mobile phones and search them for inappropriate text messages or photographs.

But Mr Phillips dismissed this approach which he said would only drive the problem underground.

“Children are children and they will look to break the rules you impose on them,” he said.

“Banning phones or shutting down sites can apply during the school day but what happens when children leave school?

“The answer has to be to inform and educate pupils and their parents about being able to use the internet responsibly.”

Mr Phillips has decided to take action locally after attending an Online Child Protection Conference in London last month aimed at giving training to primary, secondary school and college teachers in leaders to develop “e-safety” strategies.

He is now planning two events, a conference for local parents which will be held at Cundall Manor in the next six weeks followed by a larger county wide event in September.

He said: “The statistics they gave us at the conference I attended are meant to shock you but I did find them frightening.

“They showed that 84 per cent of children aged between eight and 13 years of age have seen pornographic images on the internet.”

The conference was also told that a survey had revealed more than a third of school children had sent explicit photos on their mobiles and 40 per cent believed that topless photographs were acceptable.

Now Mr Phillips feels more needs to be done outside of school to ensure children are not exposed to harm or offensive material through the internet.

“There can be serious problems in terms of bullying and then there is the issue of undesirable people contacting people through social networking sites.

“We need to educate young people that having 500 friends on Facebook is not necessarily a good thing. And that one of the 500 might not be their friend.

“Bullying on the internet can involve someone saying something which is perhaps not meant maliciously – but because it is written it is permanent and it can cause more distress than if it was said face-to-face.”

He also said that as technology advances children are able to covertly film lessons being taught which was disruptive for schools, but giving extra powers to teachers to seize pupils phones is unlikely to stop the problem.

Last week Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that teachers would be given power to look through student’s phones for evidence of offensive material as part of a Government crackdown on poor behaviour in the classroom.

The checks on phones are meant to reduce cyber-bulling and the exchange of “happy-slapping” clips and porn.

Mr Phillips compared this with the “stop and search” powers used by police and warned that it would not make pupils any safer. “The technology we are talking about can be used in a positive way. I think the growth of social networking is great but it is important that children understand the risks and how to use the internet responsibly.”