Nanny accessing internet to view inappropriate content

[redhen]

Just discovered that our nanny was viewing sites related to sexually transmitted disease and to order condoms whilst supposed to be looking after my young boys. Am v disappointed, nanny is loved by the boys and generally good so I am reluctant to find another nanny but on other hand think this is a major a breach of trust (as well as breach of contract). I am even more shocked that she would consider it to be appropriate to search on sites like this in daytime when boys are at home and might view the computer. (Eldest boy told me they were playing in garden whilst she was on the internet - which makes it even worse...). Has anybody else had similar situation - what did you do?

For me, the rule of thumb is always whether I would do the same in that situation. So if you think you would be happy to order condoms youself or look up info on STIs while your children are around, then it should be OK for the nanny. Personally speaking, I wouldn't do it - in fact, I'm even selective in which bits of Mumsnet I read when my 8-year old is around because he can read a lot faster than I thought!

If the children were in the garden and unlikely to see the screen then I can't see the problem. Personally I wouldn't use my work computer to look at information about STIs but can't see how this is a breach of contract (unless she's banned from using the computer)

lol. i've been doing online research on transgender issues and do occasionally log on to capture a screen shot whilst the kids are around... dh doesn't particularly like it when there's a huge ad for massive monster throbbing pleasure rocket or whatever towering across the screen but so far the kids remain oblivious...

have never ordered condoms online though. dh has had the snip.

poor nanny, she would be mortified

my nanny's were always allowed to use the computer during the day - i have no idea what they were looking at tbh, how on earth did you find out anyway? do you do a check of the history every night?

annh - minimise

given that the children were safely playing in garden and she viewed alone YABU

however it is tangential thinking to turn this into her body her right to access in her paid employment time,give her a medal for being so heroic/responsible/empowered

this does not alter her abilities to be good nanny.so dont act hastily or say anything rash

If she is not supposed to use the computer/internet during work hours then fair enough - it's not the content of the sites that would bother me. If she works long days and doesn't have a computer at home then she may not get a chance to look any other time. Do you have a policy on internet usage at all in the contract?

If you want to bring it up to her, I would just say that the boys mentioned they were playing in the garden while she was on the computer, and you would rather she didn't use it during work hours.

if the nanny is allowed to use your computer, then i dont think you can yell at her for trying to be responsible

and are you 100% it was her and not dh/dp?

is it the fact she was using the computer or the fact what she was looking at that annoys you - ie if she had been on a holiday site, would you be annoyed

how do you know that she was looking at that site when they were there, ie not at nursery/asleep or do you have a log in time for all sites?

Well, tbh I for one wouldn't order condoms or look at such websites while I was at work. Time and a place for everything and all that.

Have you got anything in your contract regarding internet/computer usage?

I have in mine that I'm only to use internet if children are sleeping or at outside activities and all my other duties are done. Also that internet searches relate to child related topics. Perhaps might be worth adding if not already.

I dont see that looking up about sexually transmitted infections is any different to looking up about symptons of a chest infection I am a school nurse and we try to encourage young people to talk about their symptons and seek advice and not to be embarassed an infection is an infection wherever it is. Also buying condoms is being safe sexual health wise and who says she was seeking information for herself about STI's as I often look on these sites for work and even if she had searched condoms on google often other sites may come up so she could have got their by accident.

perhaps her own log in for the computer would be sensible and your children having different log ins with parental controls set.

Also I would hope you monitor your childrens iinternet access anyway so they couldnt accidentally come across the sites she viewed as you would be watching them.

If you had told nanny no using the computer in work hours and this is in her contract then yes you have cause for concern.

what made you go and check what sites the nanny had been on in the first place??

also are you sure its the nanny and not your partner who has been accessing these sites?

a) As others have said could be dh and not the nanny (sorry)

B) it is not porn

c) regarding nannies surfing or doing other stuff: long gone the days when nannies had to rely on family's pc or phone line. Most of them have i-phone anyway. So basically you cant stop them. In my first years of nannying we didn't even have mobiles (yes i 'm old) you couldn't text or phone your bf. But nowdays how can you monitor how long the nanny spends on her i-phone? You cant. You just have to accept it and make sure you trust her in children's health and safety issues.

emnn: agree with her own log on id.

however , i think the op inbu: if nanny were being employed by a company rather than a person, then there's no way in the world she'd be allowed to look at that kind of site, indeed any site where she can purchase something unless she had permission from the boss and/or it was directly relevant to her job. (still wouldn't be allowed to purchase)

i have the impression that none of you who said yabu have ever had a job in a proper company (please don't be mad at me for saying this, but i've had a lot of jobs at a lot of different companies and every single one would not allow sites of a sexual nature or personal shopping)

nickelbabe - I have a very proper job at a massive company (15,000 employees in the UK alone) and I am allowed to use my computer to look at any website I choose (as long as it's not illegal) and buy anything I choose over the internet. Same story at every other place I've ever worked.

still havnt got over the fuckmyjuicybum.com.. lol. seriously though I dont think it is any of your business, she wasnt accessing porn sites, which wouldnt be very mary poppins ,but an information site.. the children were in the garden and

not affected.. are you checking up on her?

mummy369 I dont think the op needs support I think she needs to get a grip..

how is she going to explain to her dss, when needed, about sexual health when she seems so uptight herself... and what do you mean by 'putting her own health and welfare at risk' using concoms is just what that isnt doing...

Erm, actually I made that sitename up (though there may be something of that name).
I can offer a similar site title with some, er, entertaining content if you like...

think you are over reacting. And i think that it might be theoretically possible to contract STD from some lower risks acts? Even so, it sounds as though she is actimg responsibly by dealing with it? Also were we all saints as youngsters?

Ahhh what everyone else has said.

But can I say that I am quite shocked that many of you think that only bad girls get STDs. While you keep giving out this sort of message it will be hard for you to teach your children about this sort of thing. ANYONE can get an STD.

You don't really say what your problem is with the nanny doing this. Does her contract state that she mustn't use the internet during work time? (Does it also state that you reserve the right to view her internet history and intercept her internet use?)

You wouldn't be allowed to look up such stuff at work, so why should it be any different for a nanny who's AT WORK?!

It depends how old the children are, whether they require constant supervision and how long she was on the internet for. We had a nanny who was on the internet for hours whilst allegedly caring for toddlers. She was also looking at pictures of penises but that wasn't the aspectwhich bothered me. We asked her not to use the PC after that.

It's also very naive of the nanny to think she could get away with it!

Sazzerbear: actually, that's rubbish. Sexual health information sites would not be picked up by that many porn filters, and don't forget that ther are plenty of jobs in which looking at such stuff would be relevant to work anyway.

She's not working in a job where she has to look up such stuff, she's a nanny and should be looking after the kids. Maybe if she is allowed to look at pc, stricter rules should be imposed on what she looks at and when?

I note the OP hasn't been back. Because I did wonder exactly how she found out what the nanny was looking at and when, and I wonder how old the DC are etc.
Because I rather suspect the OP might have been a semi-troll to see how many sexually-dysfunctional bucketheads there are on here.

Whatever!