On Fri 16 Jun, Matt Johnson wrote:
Surely, these kids can only do it once! After that their access is revoked. I don't see that recurrence is a problem. Just don't allow 'offenders' computer time. Please tell me if this is gross over-simplification.
I know that when a child at our place tried to look up some 'offensive' material (just once) he was caught, and then banned from accessing - full stop. Problem solved. Make sure everyone know's the rules. Make sure they know that their emails will be scanned. I'm all for privacy, but if a child was verbally bullying, you would listen in, then take appropriate action. Make no appologies - they WILL be scanned.
Let me know if any of this is nonsense.
Just being the devil's advocate, as usual - 1. Would you censor private mail written by hand and snail- mailed? How do you justify the distinction? Surely, private means just that. And is it within your legal right to censor it? (There is an interesting conundrum running at the moment, whereby if an employee uses company email for a defamatory purpose, the company is liable but to censor private email infringes the Data Protection Act). 2. The time is rapidly approaching when banning one child from use is impractical, where whole classes are using the internet for educational purposes.
Cheers
-- Martin Devon ICT Consultant Stonar