I’m not bothering about Safer Internet day this year and will not bother again. Why? When your internet service provider already locks down most tools that you would otherwise take for granted when you’re outside their network control, how can any teacher really demonstrate how to be safe on the internet?

‘Okay class, let’s look at spam mail…oh sorry we can’t our service provider has blocked it’  ’Okay let’s see why it’s not really a good idea to open a Facebook account…ah, no we can’t. It’s blocked.’ ‘I know, let’s search for…Nope, that’s already blocked too’

I’m certain I’m not alone when I say that service providers are doing a sterling job at web filtering but there has to be some lee way, a point where a school can ‘switch on’ apps, tools, access to sites that they deem suitable without going through hoops and paperwork. I want to use Skype in my school but had to make a phone call to our service provider to check that we could! Web filtering is very similar to ripping out certain pages in newspapers before using them for Art, or deciding what books are suitable for reading before children get a chance to check for themselves. I’m not asking for a complete removal of filtering but a level of responsibility that can be shared between providers and schools. If I want delve into why it’s important to being safe online then all I ask is for the ability to do so without first coming up against a standard ‘this site is blocked’ message.

Happy Safer Internet Day.

Edit – I do teach my class how to take care when online and remind them that they are the ones that have to teach their parents too. I refer to this type of safety regularly not just on one day of the year.