| Web Safety Guidelines - | ||
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| Introduction: It is a source of sadness to many of us involved in developing the use of ICT's in schools that there seems to be a constant tug-of-war in the media between: (a) Starry-eyed Utopians who would have us believe that the Internet is the solution to every problem in education, andFor those of us who realise that the truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between it can be a tedious business trying to defend that narrow line. In fact, everyone is still so new at all this that no one has all the answers, and if they had they would probably be outdated this time next week. We can only hope that these pages will offer you some food for thought and let's start with the basics. When discussing risks, it's important to realise that the most horrendous (i.e. the child turning up missing or molested) is also the least likely. As with all aspects of life, the risk should be put into context. Statistically, probably the greatest risk is that a child will encounter people who are mean or obnoxious. A very common fear is that the child will be exposed to inappropriate material. There is a small danger of this against which schools must, of course, take precautions but it should be recognised that the child will be in much greater danger from TV, Video and Film than internet access at school. Having said all that, there are risks and, as in other spheres, teachers will, of course, want to place the safety of the children ahead of all other considerations. The following pages deal with acknowledged dangers and make some suggestions as to how you might deal with them. | ||
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