Thursday, November 15, 2012

headteacher warns facebook useful for paedophiles

FURIOUS parents have hit out at a headteacher who warned them not to post holiday snaps of their children wearing swimwear on social media sites ? in case they become ?useful? material for paedophiles.

The headteacher at Anlaby Acre Heads Primary School in Hull, East Yorks has written to all parents stressing the potential dangers of sites including Facebook and Twitter.

The letter from Rachel Robinson asks parents to ?consider the clothes worn? by children in holiday, dance class and swimming gala photos before posting them online because they can be easily shared.

In the letter, Mrs Robinson warns: ?When you are innocently updating your status with the highs and lows of the day you don?t always know who is watching.?

But while the safeguarding board has defended the letter as informative, parents at the school have slammed the decision, branding it ?offensive?.

One parent who asked not be named, who has a seven-year-old son at the school, said: ?I think this is an example of the world gone mad.

?It?s up to us what we post on our personal Facebook pages.

?The letter is quite scary and could worry parents unnecessarily but it also talks to parents like they are children.?

Another mother, whose five-year-son attends the school, said: ?I found it absurd being told by school what you can and can?t post on social media.

?I?ve got holiday pictures of my kids on Facebook and a lot of my friends have got pictures of their kids on, too. Does it mean we have to take them down??

The letter also warns parents their own security setting on sites such as Facebook are no substitute for responsible use because there are IT ?whizz-kids? out there.

Parents have also been requested not to make any comment about the school, staff or pupils on any social media sites.

In a statement Mrs Robinson said: ?Ensuring that children are safe and protected on the internet is just as important as teaching them to walk and talk.

?The letter is not telling parents what to do but presenting them with issues to consider when using the internet and social networking sites.?

She added: ?Safeguarding children is everyone?s business and ensuring parents are aware of the dangers of social media sites is one way we can all help protect our children.?

Bron Sanders, from the East Riding Safeguarding Children Board, said: ?Parents need to be careful when posting personal pictures of their children as photographs and videos can be very quickly copied, shared and spread at great speed.?

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4646734/headteacher-warns-facebook-useful-for-paedophiles.html

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