AIBU to complain the school? Ipad related

[Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself]

DC y8 has a school iPad. He's v open with us and told us he'd heard of this cool site where he can watch (poor quality) movies and TV shows, pirated.

I had a look and there are many inappropriate and sexual 18 rated horror / adult movies on there.

I feel really frustrated with the lack of control we have over what sites he can access on his school ipad, we're quite strict with screens and he has a very locked down phone and limited gaming time.

We have to trust him not to watch these things as we cannot control what he does on his iPad before and during school in breaks etc (luckily he's usually outside playing sports). I also don't want to have to constantly police it when he's doing homework and revision which is all on the iPad!

AIBU to complain to the school that they have given my child an addictive device on which he can access goodness knows what, which I have no control over as a parent, and which they don't seem to either!

It’s really not that hard to learn how to use an iPad, most of us have learned well enough who didn’t even have computers at school or home until our late teens! What schools are handing out iPads willy nilly anyway, how do they get the funding for that? I haven’t seen them at my son’s primary, everything is still (thankfully!) on paper.

I have no concerns about the technological literacy of my DC, however it has been proven that screen based revision and learning isn't as effective as pen and paper - see academic results in USA since they introduced screens / devices in classrooms.

Do you really think there are kids that leave school unable to use tablet/laptop/smart phone because they did homework in a book?

You won’t be able to set up parent controls if the school owns it per se, however you can go into settings and moderate the internet content to be set for an age range. He could then in theory change it, but this is your best option.

The problem is it's then whack-a-mole. There are literally millions of similar websites I'm sure. It would be better if they had an approved list of sites they could access.

The way this particular site is structured I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be picked up by this unfortunately

Our schools had ipads for years,they are actually pretty hard to use as the proxy server settings bans near enough everything.

I wouldn’t be happy with my child having access to this sort of material either, especially on a school iPad!

I do think it’s abit strange that you need to force him to do his homework downstairs to the point of tears? If I told my child to categorically not deviate from the homework task I would 100% expect him not to. I’d check in periodically but I would allow him the opportunity to gain your trust. The repercussions would be harsh if he went rogue!

The elderly people I know all use iPads rather than desktops/laptops. My 85 year old neighbour was outraged that she’d need to switch on her laptop to order a new bus pass rather than do it on a mobile site. My mum learned to use an iPad for the first time in hospital after a stroke…

Desktops/laptops have a lot more user configuration. That’s why technological literacy among Gen Z and Alpha is lower than for Gen X and Millennials. Because the earlier generations had to learn how to set up their own email accounts, pirate music on limewire, defragment a hard drive. Some of the younger generation can’t even use a file path! (Which is something you do need for office work, unlike limewire - but pirating did at least encourage curiosity and problem-solving)

I don't want to normalize device use in his bedroom, but on that occasion I did say he could go upstairs, I obviously don't want him to be in tears over it. But he wanted to do it downstairs. He was just getting frustrated

Okay, so I've looked into the site a bit more closely and I think it's been designed especially to bypass school security networks. I feel a bit mean but I will report to the school

Report the site to the school. They will add it to the blacklist.

do you not get a weekly summary report on usage including things like search terms used and a list of sites visited by your child on the school device?

Our school iPads are set up with controls but some of those controls come from the firewall on the school WiFi. They make it very clear to parents that if the devices connect via home WiFi, then parents need to be responsible for the filtering as an additional measure. Parents also have the option to not allow the iPads off school premises so they don't get taken home, but this can make homework trickier.

If you have WiFi at home, ask your service provider how to add filters. Almost all WiFi providers have the capability to do this.

Why do you feel a bit mean?

Id feel a lot furious. I'd send a polite email basically asking the WTAF & asking why it's not set up to restrict it to permitted websites only.
Then take it from there.

No!

I feel a bit mean because I understand there are some kids whose families can't afford Netflix etc use it to watch (age appropriate) films. I feel mean taking it away from them.

Ok theres two issues here, firstly make the school aware that there are websites that can be accessed which could be detrimental.

Secondly i think you need to unclench abit, he’s a 12/13 year old boy, who quite frankly is going to stop being so open with you if you keep reacting like this.

Having him do homework downstairs - verging on tears so you can control what he is accessing is overstepping IMO. Let him
do it in his bedroom.

He absolutely IS going to access things through his mates etc, and whilst i am 100% on board with internet safety and keeping kids safe online they also need exposure, you know abit like you learn from your mistakes.

You really do run the risk of him sneaking about etc in fear of missing out/ being left out.

I don't get the educational logic for iPads.

I realise that children need to be IT literate but an iPad isn't the solution. I mean I don't do my job on an iPad.

They seem to do more harm than good.

My DD has a school iPad which we pay for and it is completely locked down to only access school approved content. I think this is incredibly irresponsible of the school.

School safeguarding gets an alert and contacts the parents if appropriate, if students search for certain things on their iPads. The school can monitor literally everything they access, so there is that safety net too.

iPads have a guided access setting in their accessibility features. You can make it so your child can’t navigate away from whatever page they’re on without having to input a passcode which you set. On YouTube there should be a tutorial which will show you how to set it up. You can also turn it on and off as necessary.

You shouldn’t really have to do it but I’m just sharing in case this info is useful to you or others. It’s a little-known but very useful feature.

Yes, I do worry about this, we give him a lot of freedom to go out with his mates etc but we are strict on tech. My partner is stricter than me.

Thanks. This is good to know but would be a total nightmare during homework as it's a new page every few seconds!

I've actually realized I don't even know his login code

He's not searched for anything appropriate though, he's been sent a URL and clicked on it

The idea that kids need 8 years of doing their homework on Sparx to be able to use a (probably obsolete by then) technology in the workplace is silly.

Ipads benefit the school - less time and effort spent on setting/marking homework, money saved - not the kids.

There is significant downsides to children having devices like these.
Relying on the school eventually blocking new apps/sites as they discover them wouldn't be good enough for me at all.