An online safety campaign group has accused Fife Council of “knowingly misleading” parents about device safety.
Unplug.Scot say that an internal policy reveals that teaching staff are discouraged from reporting harmful gaming sites on primary school iPads.
The group say this policy was revealed in an email from a Fife primary school head to a parent who has noticed their child seeking out a game called, Paper IO 2.
This game markets itself as an “addictive masterpiece”, which the child had discovered and played during class golden time.
The group added that the teacher apologised, but informed the parent that they were not able to block the game, and sent a screenshot of the form that teachers use to request blocking an individual site.
The Press and Times have seen the screenshot referenced, which states: “Please note gaming sites cannot be blocked due to the multitude available online and will not be individually blocked.
“If you log a request for this type of site your request will be closed.
“EDUCATION GAMING WEBSITES – Please note most sites do get categorised and blocked, but unfortunately new gaming sites pop up every day. Therefore, gaming site block requests cannot be actioned and are a classroom management issue”.
As previously reported, Fife Council said that filtering technology is 99.9 per cent effective in blocking inappropriate content from being accessed on iPads issued to children in schools across the Kingdom.
This reassurance came after concerns were raised when youngsters in Glasgow found their way onto to a website that contained sexual and abusive material via local authority issued devices.
Harry Amies, co-founder of Unplug.Scot, said: "These gaming sites are effectively honeytraps. They are deliberately designed to bypass school filters and to lure kids with free addictive games.
“Many unblocked gaming sites also have hidden text and video chat rooms making them a severe sextortion and grooming risk - indeed parents in Scotland have discovered explicit chats on these gaming sites involving young children in which the children are coaxed into sharing personal contact details.”
“So, for Fife Council to be secretly allowing children to access them and not only discouraging but blocking teachers from reporting them is an astounding failure in duty of care.
“It seems the deliberate lack of protection from these sites - sites that are known to cause harm, both through addiction and child exploitation does leave them exposed to substantial negligence claims should a child come to harm from usage of their devices."
Fife Council say that they review and actively block sites on a daily basis, and that it would be incorrect to say that they do not.
They added that hundreds of thousands of sites are blocked and filtered automatically and that in the last 60 days, a further 120 sites have been banned on school devices.
Donald MacLeod, Fife Council's executive director for education said: "The claims made misrepresent both our policies and the robust safeguards in place to protect children and young people.
"The safety and wellbeing of our learners is paramount. All council-issued devices operate within strict acceptable use policies and are protected by industry-standard web filtering designed to prevent access to inappropriate content, including social media and unsuitable websites.
"These controls also extend to advertising content often associated with simple online games.
"This is supported by a range of additional safeguards, including active classroom supervision, restricted device settings, continuous monitoring and updating of filtering systems, and clear processes for staff to raise and address concerns about online content.
He continued: "Digital resources are used to support and enhance learning, and teachers maintain clear oversight of how and when devices are used.
"Staff actively guide pupils to make good, age‑appropriate choices about the content they access, supported by strong classroom management and established procedures.
"As with any digital platform, filtering systems are continuously updated to respond to the evolving online environment. This is reinforced by active supervision in schools and a strong focus on helping young people develop as responsible digital citizens.
"All schools are working to strengthen their digital culture, including the development of digital charters which reinforce expectations around safe and responsible use of technology.
"We also maintain open and transparent relationships with parents and carers, encouraging ongoing dialogue so they remain informed and involved in how digital technology is used safely to support learning.
"Claims that pupils are being left unprotected or that concerns about pupils accessing harmful sites cannot be raised are scaremongering, hugely misleading and frankly not correct."
The council added that on desktops and laptops in classrooms, they block game sites where there is deemed to be any harmful or inappropriate element, such as online chats.
They do not ban all game sites, as some, such as chess sites, have educational value.
iPads have a limited and controlled set of agreed apps installed, and Fife Council says for devices that leave classrooms, teachers and parents have been issued with guidance on how to block additional sites.
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