Glorious mums (and others) of Mumsnet:
Is there an app for this problem.
After school club have a relaxed policy on electronic devices. I'm not happy but stuck, as I need to use them and there are no other childcare options. No free spaces in childminders, they have formed a collective group to make it easier find spaces and they provide support to each if ill etc. Just an FYI as I have really exhausted the childminder option.
After school club allow devices; tablets, phones handheld games like Nintendo switch etc. Their policy is to allow them so long as the child does not take a picture of anyone else. If they do, they will be made to delete the photo straight away.
Problem: this is unacceptable from a safeguarding perspective. For a whole host of reasons that I can't explain directly, but feel anyone running an after school club should knowledge and fully appreciate.
The simple answer: somehow force after school club to ban devices and step up a gear - engage and entertain the children for all of the time they have been paid for.
And I'm happy to be THAT parent forever more.
But is there another solution? An app that parents can install in phones and tablets that allows the parent to restrict access to features of the phone either completely and during certain times.
Example: child allowed to have phone in school, in their bag, and not be taken out of the bag during school hours.
Set up the app so that during school hours they cannot access a web browser, text, WhatsApp and every other app, camera and everything else EXCEPT to call home, mum, dad, auntie dot....
During after school club hours, phone cannot access the camera. Therefore pictures cannot be taken, preventing the very tiny possibility that Child X is in the background of a picture that gets uploaded to social media with school uniform on that then gets seen by someone who should not know where Child X lives or attends school.
Preventing the worst case scenario that a violent ex partner now knows where the child is. Prevents mum of child x living in fear, knowing that the picture is now out there and could be discovered at any moment. She has to move house, change schools, break down her support network change jobs, suffer financial difficulty while looking for new job. The stress of what might happen is worse than having to deal with what actually happens, because you can't get to a solution.
I hope I've made sense and thank you for still being with me!!