Internet
The increase in the sophistication of communication devices has brought with it new challenges to ensuring the safety of students within a school. Mobile phones are now often fully multimedia devices with the capability of recording photographic or film images and accessing the internet.
At Prince Rupert School we pride ourselves on creating a safe and secure environment for everyone. This booklet outlines the policies and practices which the school has developed in order to try to do this.
Clearly, it is a great advantage for students to be able to contact parents in emergency or unexpected situations such as a bus breakdown or an unexpected wish to stay late.
For boarders, mobile phones are great for keeping in touch with the family whilst they are away from home.
We would not wish to stop students being able to use mobiles but the following procedures apply:
- Mobile phones should not be taken into lessons or any other organized activity but should remain locked in lockers
- No photographs or films should be taken without permission of the school
- Mobile phones may not be used in the boarding house after ‘lights out’ or during prep.
- Mobile phones should not be used to access the Internet whilst in school.
Emergencies
If there is an accident or serious incident in school or in the boarding house it is very tempting for students to contact parents using mobile phones. This can lead to unnecessary worry for parents who may then jam the school telephone lines. This has, on occasions, caused delay and difficulties for staff who have been trying to contact emergency services or contact specific sets of parents.
We want to give parents the best possible service and staff members will contact parents directly if they feel the situation makes this appropriate. Certainly they are usually in a position to best judge the particular circumstances that exist and will involve parents as soon as that is practical.
We hope that parents will support us by reinforcing this message with their children.
Safe Internet Use
The Internet is a vital and wonderful resource that can encourage young and old alike to explore, learn, interact, create and contribute. Many parents feel left behind as their children know more about the Internet than they do. Parents do however, have an important role to play in their children's Internet use. Whilst they may not be technologically aware, they have wisdom about the world. One of the most important ways of keeping children safe online is to ensure that they know simple rules or safety tips. These might look like this:
- Always keep your personal details (name, address) private.
- Your personal password is your own special identity, so keep it secret and don’t share it, even with your friend.
- Making new e-pals whilst online is fun, but tell your parents about who you have met and introduce them to your new friends.
- If you want to meet someone you have met in cyberspace, ask your parents/carer’s permission.
- There’s great stuff on the Net, but some bad stuff too! Always tell a parent or teacher if you come across anything that makes you uncomfortable.
- Chat can be fun, but don’t hang around in a chat room if someone is making you feel uncomfortable or worried.
The school encourages teachers to make the best use of the Internet and access is available from all the computers in the school. We have extensive procedures to protect both the network and its users from unpleasant and inappropriate elements of the Internet. Many sites will not be available to students due to their nature or content. Unfortunately, this cannot cover everything and we therefore have a Network Agreement that all students and parents are asked to sign which has clear guidelines on what is not allowed in school. We ask parents to discuss the agreement with their children and the problems that we are trying to avoid.