VIEWS & OPINION


‘Tinder for teenagers’: sounding the cyber security alarm in schools Comment by ED MACNAIR, CEO, CensorNet


Recently, children’s charity the NSPCC warned that a popular app called Yellow – and dubbed ‘Tinder for teenagers’ – could be putting young people at risk by having no checks on users’ ages, thereby enabling sex predators to target them. Similarly to Tinder, Yellow lets young people


connect with each other by swiping right on their profile pictures; if they mutually ‘like’ each other, they can then connect on Snapchat, a photo and video-messaging service, worryingly often used for sending sexual content. After Tinder, Yellow is the second most popular free lifestyle app on the Apple app store in the UK. Claiming to have five million users, the app maintains that it’s supposed to be used for making friends. However, the settings make it easy for sexual


predators to contact young people: users simply need to change their date of birth to view profiles of underage teenagers, with no checks made to verify either age or profile pictures. The developers of Yellow have since said they will


change the setting so that people who sign up as adults cannot change their dates of birth to view children’s profiles without providing ID. Inevitably, however, the internet and many social apps cannot effectively verify ages of users – when asked if over 18, any kid or teenager is going to simply click ‘yes’. It’s well known that teenagers in particular


have not completed their neuro-physiological development. They are proven to be risk-takers and usually unable to accurately predict the consequences of their actions. This, combined with the ubiquity of smartphones – the weapons of choice for sexting, which is so prevalent that the government is trying to ban it for anyone under 18 (despite such a ban being virtually unenforceable) – could spell trouble. Alarm bells should be ringing in schools and


parental homes across the UK at the news that adults can view children through social apps. Certainly, the introduction in recent years of mobile technology in the classroom has significantly enhanced the student learning


experience, however it remains the responsibility of schools to safeguard this experience, ensuring that it takes place in a secure environment with the appropriate measures to control internet access. Some communications applications inevitably


pose a greater security risk than others, as they’re trickier to control and can bypass security filters. All educational establishments must install a robust web and content filtering solution while pupils are connected to the school’s network, and monitor what pupils are accessing and block inappropriate sites and apps. It’s simple measures like these that can greatly reduce the likelihood of harm. Of course, regardless of a school’s individual


security settings, teenagers bring their own mobile devices to school and can download what they like at home. As such, it’s paramount that schools step up education programs for teenagers on school premises and across their networks to boost safety – for the sake of teenagers, parents, and teachers everywhere.


The first stage of income generation Comment by RYAN GREEN, Managing Director, Pebble


Over the last few months I’ve visited two to four schools every week to conduct income generation reviews. Each time I arrive at the school reception, I’m warmly greeted by the Headteacher or SBM who welcomes me to their school. Income generation reviews are uncommon practice in today's schools so there’s an assumption that I’ll want to list every asset that could be hired, auctioned or sold. They expect the first thing to be a tour of the school and grounds so come armed with their coat and clutching a fist full of keys. To their surprise, this is not on my agenda. The objective of an income generation review is not to find things to sell in a school but to understand why someone should buy from them. You might be thinking that in order to make a sale and generate an


income you need a product. You’d be right! We’ve identified seven key income generating activities that encompass products that primary and secondary schools can set up. These are split into two categories: charitable and commercial.


CHARITABLE Donations Grants


Sponsorship


COMMERCIAL Lettings Services Clubs Events


January 2017 However, these activities or products are not the first stage in consumer


purchasing behaviour. The first stage is ‘need recognition.’ Why do I need what you’re selling? If you want your community to support your school then you need to better understand them. Whenever we buy something from a seller we all go through the same behaviour process. The big question that should pop into your head is: ‘How do I explain to


my community that they need my school?’ It might make perfect sense to you but you’re not representative of your


entire community. If you’ve assumed that they will know this then think again. Communities may take you for granted, they may have forgotten you or they may have never known the problem that you fix. To some of you this may come as shock revelation, to others this may be


no surprise. If you want to find the ‘need’ for your school then you have to ask the community (not just your students’ parents) about the impact you make to them. How would they be affected if your school closed? From my perspective, when I arrive at the school reception and meet the


Headteacher or SBM, there’s only one thing I need to see and that is the value they bring to their community. The website www.schoolcuts.org.uk recently published figures


demonstrating that secondary schools in England will each have their funding cut by £290,228 by 2020. Isn’t it about time schools stopped looking at just selling activities and products but looked more at selling themselves?


www.education-today.co.uk 17


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