Thornbury Primary School

Parents at the open morning had an excellent presentation from Ross Savage, on behalf of CEOP (Child safety and Online Protection Service). Many parents were shocked by the information he gave, and several said they were off home to change the way they allow their child to access the internet, and x-box and the like. Are you aware if your child has a x-box or similar they can actually talk person to person with adults they have never met, from anywhere? Did you know there are simple parental controls available to stop this?

On a similar note, we have had three incidents this week, dealing with in school problems caused by outside school use of Facebook. This causes distress to children, and is very time consuming for staff to untangle. Serious cyberbullying should be reported to the police. As we have stated before, Facebook should not be used by children under 13, and with parental supervision from 13 – 15. Although many children do use Facebook, Ross Savage stated explicitly, that children should not use this site under the age of 13. If anyone, parents or school staff, becomes aware that an underage child is using Facebook, they have the right to report it to Facebook, who will shut down their access.

You may have also seen the Herald this week, illustrating the problems at a school in Plymouth with pupil access to higher age rated films, violent games, and addicted related behaviour to gaming.

It would be great to think in the future we could work towards a community policy which parents could sign up to, to take the reins back, in what seems to be an ever spiralling problem in our society. There is a great deal of pressure on parents, from children, often related to peer pressure in this matter, however there is growing research about the dangers of such exposure, and how children of primary age are not equipped to deal with the emotional challenges of the cyber world despite how mature they may seem. We will be sending out a guidance page put together on behalf of CEOP.

If any parent is concerned about the child’s use of the internet/ games etc please come in and see us, we may be able to advise. Any parent needing advice on keeping their child safe on the internet etc is very welcome; just let the office know and we will get in touch.