PAC Computer Club Internet Safety Guidelines
The PAC Computer Club began developing Internet Safety Guidelines when the club began in 1999. At that time they were discussed with the VSB and they seemed to be of the same view, for example, no photos of students on the Internet. As the PAC Computer Club was a new venture, the VSB were requiring we have Internet Safety Guidelines, one reason being the VSB were still working on a draft of their guidelines. In the autumn of 2000 the VSB posted a photo of Quilchena students on the Quilchena web site's school profile. On Dec. 4, 2000 the PAC sent a letter to the VSB, containing the following:
"The Quilchena Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) held a meeting November 30, 2000. At this meeting there was a unanimous motion to write to the Vancouver School Board (VSB) to advise them the PAC's view is that photos of students should not be posted on the Internet. This issue was brought to the PAC's attention as Quilchena's web site has had a school profile, with a photo of students, added by the VSB. An e-mail, sent to you by a parent at Quilchena, outlines the background to the PAC Computer Club Internet Safety Guidelines. Both a copy of the e-mail and the Internet Safety Guidelines are enclosed for your information.
A safety concern we
have is that:
- Before the Internet,
it was possible for a pedophile to go to the VSB offices and pick up a
School Profile Brochure with a photo of students.
- Posting a School
Profile with a photo of students on a school web site makes it more easily
available to pedophiles and with the current technology for digital editing
of photos, it is easy for a pedophile to use the photo to obtain a fresh
face for child pornography.
At present we are, at our school, trying to teach not to post photos of students on the Internet and it is a contradiction to have the School Profile student photo on the Quilchena web site.
We would appreciate if you would reconsider your policy of posting photos of students on the Internet."
On January 29, 2001 the District Parent Advisory Committee (DPAC) sent a letter to the VSB saying that at their meeting of January 25, 2001 the Vancouver district parent representatives agreed to write the VSB to indicate DPAC's support of Quilchena PAC's request that the VSB post no pictures of VSB students on any school board web sites.
Early in 2001 a Quilchena parent who signed a permission for the VSB to take her child's photo called the VSB and asked them to remove the photo and this was done. The parent said when she signed the permission she thought the VSB followed the guidelines not to post student photos on the Internet and was surprised the VSB put the photo of students on the Internet.
There was an article titled 'Computer-generated porn raises legal problems' in the National Post on February 8, 2001 that relates to this problem. The article was about the problems in US courts where people are trying to use the defense against pornography charges that the children are not real, they are composed digital images.
The school board held
an evening session for parents on Internet Safety on April 25, 2001. When
questioned, the board’s
guest speaker, a detective from the Organized Crime Agency of BC said he
would
not put photos of
students on the Internet as there is a danger of pedophiles ‘morphing’
the photos into
child pornography
and a spokesperson for the board said the board would adopt a no photos
of students
on the Internet policy
within a year.