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The NSPCC says Highland kids should 'not be able to gain access to pornographic sites in the first place'


By Scott Maclennan

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Pupils across the Highlands have been issued with Chromebooks.
Pupils across the Highlands have been issued with Chromebooks.

The NSPCC said “children should not be able to gain access to pornographic sites in the first place” after it emerged primary pupils at a Highland school had seen pornographic content in class.

Highland Council has launched an investigation but insists its system is robust – claims strongly disputed by one worried parent.

The NSPCC warned that seeing pornography as a child can be “extremely upsetting. It can also have a detrimental impact on a child’s understanding of sex, consent and healthy relationships.”

They now want to see more done at the national level with an online safety bill that forces sites to introduce effective age assurance measures that “provide the highest level of confidence about a user’s age.”

An NSPCC Scotland spokesperson said: “Watching pornography at a young age can be extremely upsetting. It can also have a detrimental impact on a child’s understanding of sex, consent and healthy relationships.

“It is important that online devices are equipped for children to use them safely and ensure they are not exposed to harmful content.

“But children should not be able to gain access to pornographic sites in the first place, and that is why we need an Online Safety Bill which compels these sites to roll out effective age assurance measures that provide the highest level of confidence about a user’s age.”

Sickened

Earlier, one mother revealed that her child had seen graphic sexual images in class on the Chromebook issued to schools by the council leaving the primary school pupil disturbed, upset and frightened.

She is now calling on the council to shut down internet access for primary pupils until it can guarantee no child can access disturbing content including pornography and violence.

The parent did not want her name made public to protect her child but said she wants the council beef up its protections for pre-teens online – something she says is lacking.

“The picture that I saw was sent to the school and it was forwarded to Highland Council’s digital education and learning team,” she said.

“I almost feel that I have been going crazy this week because I sent that image to a lot of adults in the education system and it took me going public for them to remove the URL.

“But even though I proved that access wasn’t safe, they still haven’t removed kids’ access to the internet – it just makes me feel like I have gone mad.

“They tried to tell me the system was working and they said they checked the system by making a test account and they tested some terms and the system was running as it should be.

“How can they tell me that when my child viewed porn last week in school on a school Chromebook over school Wifi – they tried to say it is running fine but it is clearly not and they tried to stick by that.

“I also checked what they had seen so I could understand more and to see how they got to it and so on but when I realised that it hadn’t leaked through the system but that the whole system was broken – I just couldn’t sleep that night.

“I know what Highland Council is like to a degree but I have never had a big issue with them but I still thought that if you show an adult the images that I saw and to send them that with the URL and all the people who saw it did not think ‘oh my god we need to remove it before our kids see this.’

“Even with the Highland Council’s incompetence you would think that someone would immediately be sickened by seeing it and even if they had to make excuses about network failure just to shut down the kids internet for the day to check it out instead of gaslighting me and telling me the system is fine.”

Safety is a priority

Highland Council’s education boss Nicky Grant said: “Chromebooks supplied to all Highland pupils are protected by the student safety filter ‘Securly’ and all appropriate filtering configurations are in place to protect pupils.

"We can confirm that the Council has received a complaint and are investigating the allegations with Securly and a response will be provided in due course to the complainant.

“The council delivers online safety support and training to all Highland schools, and this is an equally crucial part of keeping children safe.

“We would like to assure all parents and carers that pupil and staff safety is a priority of the Highland Council.”


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