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Online chat facility - does your school provide this? Is it good or bad?

8 replies

skiingmummy · 26/01/2013 08:32

So my children (yr 3 and yr 5) came home with access to an online chat facility provided by school and accessed via the school website. Among the people they can message are the headmaster, the deputy, their teacher and the man who subcontracts PE - (not a school member of staff).

So before I get upset about school providing my children with junior facebook without asking me whether I want my children given access and before I have too many battles with my children about why they are not allowed to spend hours chatting to their school friends online I would like to ask......
have any other primary schools got this and what do other parents feel about it? Does it enhance your childrens lives after school? What do your children use it to chat about? Do any other parents have endless battles about how long their children are allowed on it? I'd really love to know anyone elses experiences both good or bad with this.
Thanks.

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Fayrazzled · 26/01/2013 08:36

It doesn't sound to me like a junior Facebook from what you've described but more like the facility some online customer service departments use to ask a question directly. It sounds like a way or the children or parents to ask a q of members of staff hey may not get much opportunity to talk to face to face. Or have I misunderstood?

By no my children's primary doesn't doit and I don't consider it ncessary.

Fayrazzled · 26/01/2013 08:38

If it is much wider than I have understood then I wouldn't be happy, no.

skiingmummy · 26/01/2013 08:45

Junior facebook is probably not quite accurate - its probably more like skype or messenger in that they can type something on a message board or to one of their friends and that friend can type an instant reply. My DD sent a message to the headmaster telling him she loved the new message system and being able to chat to her friends and ended it with LOL and 2 kisses! Have had a talk to her about what is and isn't appropriate to type to an adult! Have explained that if she wouldn't say it to their face (am hoping she wouldn't give the headmaster 2 kisses) then she shouldn't put it in a message but don't think she really gets why I'm uncomfortable with this.

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skiingmummy · 26/01/2013 08:48

The children can also create blogs that everyone can see. So far my daughter has written about who are her best friends and even that worries me - if some of the other children see it and get upset because they've not been mentioned will they start being mean with her?!! At the moment I can only see negatives with this new facility hence why I need other peoples perspective on it. :)

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FollicallyEnhancedFreak · 26/01/2013 12:46

Our school doesn't do it, unsurprisingly we also have the world's crappiest web site

A few of my friend's children have access to this, or something similar through their schools and after the initial wariness from the parents, its been very, very popular. However it is only used for school work, anything 'off topic' is instantly removed.

BooksandaCuppa · 26/01/2013 13:00

Hmm, I know at the secondary school I work at, students have been asking the Head for something similar to this because, obviously, facebook is not accessible at school and, also, most of our under-13s do abide by the age restrictions on fb and don't use it. So, for them, it would be useful.

As for primary, I can see your point about the inappropriate way your dd messaged the HT but, thinking about it, maybe this early introduction is an excellent way to prepare the children for the realities of real world social media - in that you as parents are monitoring it far more closely than you might when she is 13, and the school are too. I can see great potential in PSE lessons at school for addressing all the issues you mention and, really, at 8 or 9, the lessons might sink in much more readily than at 11 or 13.

As for the blogging, I agree that it could be controversial but, again, at least it's monitored. I think there should be some kind of previewing going on by the school before the blogs 'go live', btw. Our yr 8s are all creating their own blogs at the moment but they're not public (even to each other) until the relevant teacher is happy with them/their content/privacy etc.

On balance, I think it's a good thing to address the realities of social media before the children are old enough to be a) very secretive or b) ingrained in bad habits.

skiingmummy · 26/01/2013 18:56

Thanks for your views.
Yes it probably is a controlled way of introducing social networking I just wish I'd been given some notice/info about it before it was introduced so that I could have agreed rules with my children about when and how they access it. Also I think you're right, the blogs should be moderated before being published. At the mo as soon as a message or blog is created its visable to everyone. I do think I'm going to voice my concern that the children have been given the ability to message a 3rd party though. Teachers and HTs I can maybe understand but why the children should be able to chat outside of school with the external person who comes in to do PE I really don't understand.

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mrz · 26/01/2013 19:00

I agree the inclusion of the PE person is odd.

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