Stop! Internet Police
In my time at Rainham Mark as a technician I've had to deal with hundreds of incidents relating to students' use (or misuse) of the Internet. Traditionally as a school we monitor and censor the Internet on-site, this is in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy and grants us the power to filter their content to remove anything inappropriate for school, online gaming websites and illegal content. However, increasingly, SMT are coming to me with issues that didn't occur "on-site", and are in theory totally out of our jurisdiction.
YouTube is a prime example, its actually banned on-site preventing users from accessing it, but nonetheless I am asked, as part of my job, to scan through YouTube on a regular basis looking for any videos of our students or teachers that are inappropriate or taken on-site. When I find any, I report them back to SMT and let them deal with it. My concern is though; we have absolutely no legal grounds to be policing the Internet like this.
Should we? Its a difficult question. If a student launches an underground newsletter online about the school, saying things the school don't want to be said - the school has no grounds to punish the students involved. But thats not what SMT want to hear. Imagine if they did threaten to expel a student, or even go through with it, the publicity that could be stirred up would certainly taint the school's reputation. Surely students have a right to free speech, just like anyone else? RateMyTeacher is another good example of this, students have the ability to post comments and rate their teachers, there is no slander - just students' honest opinions of people.
On the other hand, sometimes my web-policing is for the students own good, indeed for their own protection. Just last week there was an incident involving a student posting videos of themselves stripping naked at various places around the school. Do we not have a duty to protect this minor? Where is the distinction between using Internet policing justifiably to protect students, and misuse of this power protecting the school's reputation?
Musings on my first week of work...
As of Tuesday I am now officially employed by Rainham Mark Grammar School, and will be for at least the next thirteen months. Its really happening!
I can't begin to express how odd it is to work for the school - to be a member of staff. There are the obvious differences between staff and students (I get paid to be there, for one), but then there's the things you might not think of; like using the staff toilets (I don't even know where most of them are), parking inside the gates (saving me at least 50m on my walk from the car to school), and ... weirdest of all - calling people by their first names! There's also a feeling that I'm being treated differently, I can't identify quite what it is, but I think its that we're now talking on a level, rather than me being looked down on for being "just a student".
Obviously at the moment things are a little different because there are very few teachers in, mainly support staff. the hours are shorter and everything is a little more relaxed. However, once everyone comes back in September and the existing technicians leave me and Sam behind it'll be interesting to see how I cope with the "weirdness".
All of this does open an interesting moral question too. With the rest of my year group heading off into the Big Wide World (or Uni...) my friendships in year 12 are ever more important. But is that "allowed"? Arguably I'm not in a considerable "position of authority" over the students, but theoretically I could be - and I've been Police checked for that very reason. So do I continue seeing these people out of school as after all they were my friends before I became an employee of the school, or distance myself? The former does carry with it risks, but the latter is unfair on both parties. Hmmmmmm
I pray thou...
I pray thou shalt be swallowed by a whale with excessively bad breath, O ye exceedingly foolish virgin!
Curse!
Ta for the link Rob 
Talk To God!
Me:
Do you exist?
God:
I exist as much as you exist, Paul.
Me:
Can you prove it?
God:
It is self-evident.
Me:
Like intuitionism?
God:
Interesting comparison.
Top Two Websites Of The Weekend...
Came accross two superb bookmarkable sites this weekend...
Firstly, http://objectiveministries.org/kidz/, which i hope for everybody's sake is a joke. I won't say too much about the site (partially at risk of offending anyone who might take it seriously, partially because its just best left unsaid).. but do play dress up lamby the Christian lamb!
Secondly, a vaguely more serious site, http://www.myheritage.com/ it invites you to upload a photo of your face, matches it against a database of celebrity faces and tells you who you look like!
My results were somewhat disturbing...
- Mick Jagger : 61% Likeness
- Zhang Ziyi : 58% Likeness
- Christopher Lambert : 54% Likeness