Edinburgh primary pupils accessing adult content on school iPads prompts warning
The SNP Education Secretary has intervened following reports that primary pupils in Edinburgh were able to access pornography on iPads handed out by schools.
Jenny Gilruth wrote to council bosses warning them to ensure all devices had robust controls in place. This comes after Edinburgh Council blocked access to some search engines, when it emerged pupils were able to easily switch off Safe Search functions.
The school-issued iPads have a filtering agent which is supposed to protect children at school and at home from accessing explicit content, reports the Daily Record.
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But a YouTube by a concerned parent emerged last month which revealed how easy it was to bypass filters on devices issued to more than 35,000 school pupils.
Tens of thousands of primary pupils across Scotland have been handed an iPad or other tablet by their schools as part of efforts to educate them in the use of technology. Gilruth said she had contacted council bosses in response to a letter from MSP Miles Briggs.
In a response first reported by the Telegraph, the SNP minister said the council had been “keen to stress that a review of their internet logs, (which records every search undertaken and every website visited via school iPads), did not show widespread access by pupils to inappropriate content”.
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Gilruth did not say how many children had used the devices to access pornography but said it was believed that only one had visited an “inappropriate page on Wikipedia”.
"Edinburgh officials also shared details of the issue and the mitigations they have put in place with other councils so that they may take action,” she said.
"To provide further reassurance, my officials have written to all councils to seek details of the protections they have in place for learners and confirmation that this issue is not replicated in other parts of the country."
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Gilruth added that councils “have robust technologies and processes in place and are doing their utmost to protect every learner in Scotland”.
The MSP concluded: “It is vital that safety protocols are regularly reviewed and that robust processes are in place to report and act upon identified threats and risks.”
In a statement to parents last month, the city council said it had taken “immediate steps” to prevent this happening again and ordered an “urgent review”.
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Edinburgh’s education, children and families convener, said: “Our priority is the safety of our learners and as soon as we were made aware that particular content could be accessed on iPads, we took immediate action to introduce enhanced safety. We have carried out a thorough investigation and have shared these findings with other local authorities.”