Putting Children At Risk
It’s not something we do very often. In fact, as teachers, all we ever seem to do is exactly the opposite. We provide safe classrooms, safe playgrounds and play safe games or do safe activities. The OHS [Occupational Health and Safety] people are frequently seen walking around schools, with clipboards in hand, ticking off the boxes to make sure that every little inch of the school environment is as safe as it can be. Electrical plugs are checked annually, furniture is designed for safety over ergonomics and playgrounds are limited in their use by such rulings as ‘too hard to play ball’, ‘avoid the trees for risk of falling branches’ and playground equipment that is colourful and bright but tedious to use.
Gone are the days when such lethal weapons as the paper guillotine can be allowed anywhere near a school, let alone be used by children.
However, it presents us with a big question. Is this practise of taking the risk out of everything children do and providing nothing but safety nets in all activities, really such a good thing?
Sure, no teacher would ever want a child in their care to be at risk of danger, with their safety and care always being of paramount importance, but there are certainly elements about putting children at risk that will help them in their growth. So is right to remove these elements from a child’s learning? Does removing the heater from a younger child’s reach, for instance, solve the issue or make it worse? Surely we all need to learn that danger exists, so is it wise to live in safety bubbles? continued…
Tech Corner: Spyware
So, you finally have the machines you want in place and then the inevitable happens. And don’t be surprised! It is not a matter of if, but when. Something goes wrong and you don’t know how to fix it. You cannot afford to call in the technicians and you need to resolve the issue as in yesterday. This new section will be a calling place for some of the answers.
Problem: Spyware is attacking your network and making your machines almost unusable. How can you fix it?
Solution: There are two vital steps here. 1. Getting rid of the existing spyware1 first and 2. Setting up your network with safeguards to prevent it from happening again.
Firstly then, use a program such as Spy Terminator, SpyBot or many others [most available free from the Internet if budgets are tight] and scan your system for spyware and malware. These little nasties are not viruses per se but they do act in a similar fashion and often with the same result. One thing to note here – you do not need them, the children certainly do not need them and the computer will be eternally grateful to you for ridding them completely. Depending on the amount of machines in your network, this can be a lengthy task, but to make sure you have cleaned the machines effectively, a scan of each machine individually is highly recommended. continued…