Bullying happens. It is one of those issues where it is difficult for teachers to do the right thing. If you intervene too soon, you may be seen as being too heavy handed or prejudiced against a pupil but if you wait for evidence, the damage may be done and the victim of bullying may have suffered a blow to their confidence and self- esteem, or worse. Filtering and digital monitoring software helps children and their teachers.
These days where so many young people live their life online, filtering and digital monitoring software can be very effective. Digital monitoring solutions can help schools understand what young people are saying across platforms whereas filtering can help block students from harmful content. While many young people are adept at talking their way out of situations, claiming it was a joke or they didn’t mean it, the evidence is there to see. Even if they have second thoughts, the software records everything they have written. One safeguarding lead said, ‘Sometimes they quickly delete what they have written. As a staff member, you might be walking around, you might not see that. But we’ve got it logged.’
Smoothwall’s digital monitoring system uses human moderators, so when the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) gets an email or a call, they know it is unlikely to be a false alarm. As one DSL commented: ‘You get the thread of a conversation or a series of activities and screen grabs. It's like a storyboard that takes you from the first comment, that maybe was innocuous, through the whole journey so you can see where the tone changed and the conversation become risky.'
What can the software detect?
It’s not just bullying; the software detects signs of grooming, terrorism, racism, offensive behaviour and an impulse to suicide, among others