SCHOOLS BLOCK ACCESS TO 'SOCIAL NETWORKING' WEBSITE
By Jasper Copping

Telegraph.co.uk, UK: 9 April 2006
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/09/nbebo09..xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixhome.html
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Schools across the country are banning pupils from accessing a popular
social networking website because it is rife with bullying, libellous
remarks, drug references and pornography.

Teachers also fear that the site, Bebo.com, could help paedophiles to
identify and contact potential victims.

Schools have become so concerned about the site that they are also
warning parents to monitor closely their children's internet use when
they are at home.

Up to 4.5 million people in Britain have signed up to the site since
its launch last summer. It is at the heart of a growing on-line social
networking craze among youngsters.

The site is aimed at people between the ages of 13 and 30, but has
proved particularly popular with school students, and even primary
school pupils.

It allows members to create mini-homepages with pictures and personal
profiles. They can also share pictures and messages with other users.

One school to have banned the site is Kent College, an independent
girls boarding school near Tunbridge Wells.

Bill Burles, the school's director of information and communication
technology (ICT), said: "When we found the site, about 170 of our
pupils had signed up to it. There was stuff on there slagging off
teachers, there was bad language, bullying and inappropriate images.
We held a parents information evening about it, and there was a lot of
jaw dropping from parents when we told them what was going on."

While other sites offer similar services, critics say Bebo is
especially vulnerable to abuse because it allows anyone to register,
and then interact with other users.

Mr Burles added: "The girls don't realise this stuff is available to
everyone. They think it is only accessible for their friends. They
don't realise the whole world can view it."

In Norfolk, the website has been blocked in all 453 schools and
parents have now been warned about their children logging on at home.

It is understood to be the first education authority to impose a
blanket ban, although others are now thought to be following suit.

An e-mail sent to all head teachers in Norfolk said the site was being
used for "bullying, pornography, drugs references and other unsavoury
activities".

John Horsfield, the head teacher at Neatherd High School, in Dereham,
Norfolk, said that he had found bullying and pornography when he
checked the postings of the 200 of his pupils who had signed up to the
site. "My concern is that children are so unprotected. No matter how
much information we give them, they are still giving out their
addresses on that site, along with photos of themselves and their
houses. We live in such a dodgy world. This site is so desperately
easy to get onto and probability tells us that there will be someone
out there using it who shouldn't.

"My big beef about Bebo is that they could have a message on the page
telling children not to give their real address, their real name or
e-mail address. All Bebo do is offer a link to a page about security,
and I don't think that is good enough."

John Carr, from the children's charity NCH, said: "If there is a
bullying or harassment campaign through Bebo, it can have terrible
consequences. And there have already been cases of paedophiles
grooming children in these websites in the US, and that is the not too
distant future for Britain."

Margaret Morrissey, the spokesman for the National Confederation of
Parent Teacher Associations, said: "There is a real concern about this
site. Other local education authorities need to be aware of it.
Parents would be really concerned if they thought there was an
opportunity for their children to get on these sites at schools."

Jim Scheinman, Bebo's vice president, described the decision to ban
the site from schools as "censorship".

He said: "We take privacy and security very seriously. The internet
and social networking have not created bullying. When bullying occurs
on-line, just like off line, this creates a teachable moment for
educators, parents and students. Engaging the students in these
teachable moments seems more sensible than censorship."