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AIBU?

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Original poster

To say something to school about Five Nights At Freddies

68 replies

Skittykitty · 09/06/2017 07:07

DS is 7yo. At school yesterday he had computer time, he said the boy he was paired with was googling Five Nights At Freddies and viewing jumpscare? images. DS told me about it as I've told him if he ever sees anything online that upset/worries/confuses him he should tell a grown up. He says he tried to tell a teacher at school but this boy wouldn't let him past.

I asked what was Googled and then searched the same terms. I got pictures of a yellow bear, in some of them he has range and red eyes. I also got images of some sort of clown type puppet with a cracked mask, a pigtailed doll in the same style of drawing and some still images from the Puppetmaster 4 film. DS confirmed this is what they were looking at. I didn't know what this game was so I looked it up and asked some gamer friends. It is definitely not something DS would be allowed to play or watch videos of at this age.

AIBU to speak to his teacher about it today? His internet use at home is supervised and content is restricted, I'd have thought school would have similar rules in place considering I had to sign a contract promising that DS would use the school internet responsibly Hmm I've had a long night of him in and out of my bed wittering on about this fucking bear so I'm pissed off about it!

OP posts:
OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 09/06/2017 07:48

The school's internet settings need tightening. I'd also be suggesting that this little boy might not be an appropriate partner for your son.

NotTheDuchessOfCambridge · 09/06/2017 07:48

It really depends on the child, some are really sensitive and this would affect them. Others on the other hand wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Faithless12 · 09/06/2017 07:51

Speak to the school. We've recently had a similar problem at DS' school. A letter was sent out to parents telling them about it and how it is inappropriate for the children to watch.

WomblingThree · 09/06/2017 07:55

What the hell? People think those images are ok for a seven year old? And I thought I was a crap mother. It's amazing on here sometimes. Can't leave a 14 year old on their own for 10 minutes, or let a kid have "screen time" (barf) but it's ok for small children to watch shit like this at school!! 🙄

Why on earth are they not being supervised on the school computer ffs, so they aren't looking at dodgy stuff? To be honest, I don't understand why you are even questioning whether you should contact the school. Of course you bloody should. Your seven year old is having nightmares over something he saw on the school computer!!

Starlight2345 · 09/06/2017 07:57

I would speak to the school. I had an issue with something my DS had seen online last year. I saw teacher and she explained how the I pads worked and how she was able to supervise the use.

MrsOverTheRoad · 09/06/2017 08:00

How did those terms get past the school's security!???

Isadora2007 · 09/06/2017 08:05

Toys r us stock FNAF toys and merchandise. It's such a weird thing as it looks kind of harmless if a little creepy but the back story is far worse than you think.

Ds is 4 and some of the children at nursery talk about it as does he now... so no at age 7 I don't think I would be talking to the school other than about the boy not letting DS past to speak to a teacher...

cantkeepawayforever · 09/06/2017 08:08

School filter should have caught that search + not returned images.

(Yes, stuff does get through that shouldn't, so you now need to close the feedback loop by telling the school, who will tell their service provider, who will block it)

You should also mention the other child blocking him from doing hat he knew was right, which was telling an adult what he saw. That goes against both the letter and the spirit of school internet use, and would warrant at the very least a general reminder of the rules, and possibly a serious 1:1 chat with this particular child.

The police come in to do an internet safety talk to us each year - one of the questions they ask is what e.g. games, social media etc children have / use at home. More often than not, that is followed up with their letter home about the law around age controls, and has in the past triggered child protection concerns being raised.

To be clear, this isn't a child protection concern on its own BUT following up a child who both knows to google a non age appropriate site and prevents another child from alerting an adult would be good practice by the school, just in case.

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 09/06/2017 08:10

Toys R Us also stock Grand Theft Auto. I don't think shoos choosing to stock items is a reliable indicator of age something is suitable for.

The1andonlyFrusso · 09/06/2017 08:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cantkeepawayforever · 09/06/2017 08:16

Then the school's procedures and processes should be more robust (I can bring up, on my screen, anything that a child is doing on theirs at any time, for example)

RandomDent · 09/06/2017 08:21

Oh god is this back? Drove me up the wall trying to catch this in class, they couldn't get on but it didn't stop the kids talking about it.

PurpleMinionMummy · 09/06/2017 08:26

Yanbu to speak to them. It once came to light my dc's school had an issue with their internet safeguards after children had googled beheading images one lunchtime......

The1andonlyFrusso · 09/06/2017 08:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cantkeepawayforever · 09/06/2017 08:56

The1andonly,

That's not what I'm saying.

Our internet filter is pretty draconian. It does not return anything that originates from any form of social media or blogs. It blocks a large number of sites simply because the adverts that they carry are not actively age-restricted. It has a very high level of filtering on search terms and phrases, and these can be actively added to (so if this image had got through our filter following that search, we would add the search terms used and any other relevant ones).

As a result, things getting through our filter is a pretty rare occurrence, but we do have a variety of processes and procedures to deal with it (the layout of the room where we do most ICT, for example, gives a good view of all screens from almost all positions as well as from the teacher's log on searches are tracked and logged etc etc, as well as active reporting). Being able to monitor what children are doing - there are 2 adults present for ICT - is only part of these procedures.

BWatchWatcher · 09/06/2017 09:27

This should not be blamed on the school's internet filters.
It's the parents of the child who should have been monitoring their child on the internet.

Farahilda · 09/06/2017 09:32

"It's the parents of the child who should have been monitoring their child on the internet."

Umm, this happened in school

Relying on filters is not sufficient. If you have not added the specific name, they may well not catch something that has no formal age rating.

OhMrBadger · 09/06/2017 09:46

We had a similar issue with DS1. A boy he was sharing a computer with googled 'slenderman' which scared the crap out DS. This was back when Minecraft was gaining popularity and I assumed the boy in question had leapt from the character Enderman to SLenderman.

I spoke to the teacher who said she'd keep an eye out. I just wanted them to be aware that it had slipped through their filter.

Ekphrasis · 09/06/2017 09:59

For me the back story of the game is disgustingly grim.

BWatchWatcher · 09/06/2017 10:02

@Farahilda the child knew the search terms and googled them. If the child hadn't been exposed to five nights at freddy's in the first place this wouldn't have happened.

cantkeepawayforever · 09/06/2017 10:05

Yes, that is - for me - a really important part of why the school should be told about the incident. A child being exposed to unsuitable online material outside school is something the school should be aware of, and can be one of those 'pieces of a jiqsaw' in an overall safeguarding concern.

user1494409994 · 09/06/2017 10:39

My 7 year old doesn't get to watch it. It's not appropriate in my opinion and I'd rather not have my sleep disturbed with his nightmares over a bloody computer game or images taken from it.

Farahilda · 09/06/2017 10:58

Many 7 year olds know how to google, and you do not have to have seen it before to have heard the name and search on that. Indeed he might even have been doing it in school precisely because he could not access it at home. We don't know.

But what we do know is that this is a school issue; just as are the online activities of every pupil in school on school systems.

Ekphrasis · 09/06/2017 11:08

can be one of those 'pieces of a jiqsaw' in an overall safeguarding concern.

Exactly this.

Lweji · 09/06/2017 12:06

If the child hadn't been exposed to five nights at freddy's in the first place this wouldn't have happened.

Not so easy to prevent when there are older siblings.