I usually refrain from reading the Daily Mail. I tend to find that the values we stand for and hold dear as a profession of educators are rarely reflected within its pages.
However, my attention was caught by a comment last week which eventually led me to the Mail Online and the headline: More than 1,000 schools spy on pupils’ web browsing (see for yourself at http://dailym.ai/2eWbsZM).
The story centred on the number of schools that now use monitoring software to track what their pupils are doing online during the school day or when they are using school devices. We are told that 821,386 computers or devices are now installed with such “snooping software”, allowing teachers to “spy” on pupils.
The slightly sensationally spun story is actually based on a perfectly legitimate and more measured report by the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch.
The 18-page report, entitled Classroom Management Software – Another Brick in the Wall? (which you can find at www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk) is based on Freedom of Information requests showing that of 1,420 secondary schools in England and Wales that provided data, 1,000 or so have such technology. I imagine the actual figure is much higher.
The report raises a number of quite valid questions about this kind of software and to what degree schools do and should tell pupils and families about its use.
In particular, it questions how many schools’ Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) properly explain how pupils will be monitored (from the limited data in the report, it seems most AUPs mention monitoring but only a fifth or so explain it in fuller detail).
And, crucially to my mind, the report questions the extent to which this software is being installed on pupils’ own personal devices – and therefore what capacity schools then have to monitor pupils’ personal, out-of-school internet use (doing so would of course constitute unacceptable practice by schools and software companies).
While I am sympathetic to many of the concerns raised in this report, the one thought that struck me hardest while reading the Mail’s article and the report itself was: what do we expect schools do to?
Okay – living in a world of constant surveillance and normalising our children to accept this kind of life is not a good thing at all. And not properly informing students or families is not good practice either.
However, schools have become the solution to almost every modern problem imaginable that our young people face – and most modern problems faced by young people involve to a lesser or greater extent the internet.
From mental health problems and potential issues such as self-harm or suicidal thoughts to cyber-bullying (victim or perpetrator) to radicalisation to online sexual abuse and grooming – the list goes on and on.
Furthermore, let’s not forget that our young people are just that – young. They are still growing up, making mistakes, taking risks, doing stupid things and learning from all of their errors and slips. It’s called finding their way in the world.
However, in 2016, with so many aspects of their lives lived online, these slips and mistakes can lead to real danger or long-lasting negative results. The risks are so much greater now than 20 or even 10 years ago.
As such, and despite my generally liberal outlook, I do not feel it outrageous for a school to monitor its pupils in this manner. I also feel that pupils in a school environment should not be surprised at this practice and that parents should understand that this is not “snooping” or “spying”, but a sensible reaction to the increased risks of modern life.
Of course, schools that only monitor and make no effort to educate their children about internet use and online life will be seriously failing in their duties.
So I feel monitoring is essential, but the absolute priority for schools must be positive education. This is why e-safety and PSHE programmes are so important and why I am much more concerned about the patchy provision of PSHE across the country than I am about schools’ use of monitoring software.
- Pete Henshaw is the editor of SecEd and has been writing on education for more than 10 years. Email editor@sec-ed.co.uk. Follow him @pwhenshaw