Girls frequently visit porn sites
Boys prefer games and football
By Santokh Singh
A SURVEY of computer usage in three schools has come up with some
shocking results.
At the only girls' school surveyed, pornographic websites were the
ones most frequently visited.
And at the two boys schools surveyed, students actively surfed
games and football sites.
And, mind you, all this was going on during lessons, away from the
eyes of teachers who were clearly unaware of what was going on in
this 'cat and computer mouse' game.
Software to block such sites had been put in by both the Ministry
of Education (MOE) and the schools. Apparently that wasn't good
enough.
Those were some of the findings of a study done by a local software
company at three schools here.
Cicada Cube Pte Ltd's study also revealed that the students spent
about 30 per cent of their computer time surfing these 'undesirable
sites'. The students' Internet usage was filtered through words,
domains and website addresses.
The study found that in the girls' school, there were more than
1,100 requests for domains providing pornography in just five days.
The number of searches for sites using sex words was just as
disturbing, with more than 400 requests over the same period.
Sex, however, was not at the top of the list for the boys schools,
though undesirable sites were still in demand.
There, students looked for games sites.
Having taught computer lessons in two schools, the head of
discipline from a neighbourhood school observed that computer abuse
seemed to be a problem with the brighter students.
Said the teacher, who is not from one of the schools surveyed: 'It
is usually the IT savvy students who tend to wander off. And they
are smart enough to not only beat the system, but also the teacher.
But if a teacher knows his pupils well enough, he, too, will be
able to tell when abuse is going on.'
The study, which monitored computer usage over a period ranging
from one day to two weeks, was done with the co-operation of the
schools.
The company had set out to prove that existing programmes were
either too restrictive, in that they also blocked out educational
sites as well, or too liberal.
Cicada Cube has since patented its programme, CicadaSAFE, which it
says can be tailor-made to individual school requirements. (See
report on facing page.)
But it was what the study found that surprised the company's
co-founders, Dr Danny Poo and Dr Anil K Ratty.
'We found that students do spend a fair bit of lesson time surfing
these undesirable sites,' said Dr Poo, a professor at the National
University of Singapore.
'It may be teenage curiosity or a passing phase, but what is
important is that valuable resources and time is being
wasted.
'Our study did not monitor whether the 70 per cent of hits on the
desirable sites was relevant to school work or not. We would give
the benefit of the doubt to the students here.
'But the number of hits on the undesirable sites, and the fact that
the students could actually access these sites, is worth
deliberating on for educators.'
In filtering the system of one of the boys' schools for just one
day, the study showed 11,694 undesirable addresses or keywords
typed in and 9,959 undesirable domain requests.
Of these domains, 84 per cent fell into the 'games' category.
In the other school, where the study was over a period of seven
days, there was a total of 18,272 requests for undesirable domains.
The 'games' category occupied 77 per cent of the requests.
'It could well be that boys have easier access to pornographic
sites outside of the school and so prefer to play games in class,'
said Dr Ratty. 'Even then, it is no less wrong, for the time should
be put to proper use.'
It could also be that the boys' schools have discipline procedures
in place that are deterrent enough.
It is understood that some boys schools identify compulsive net
abusers at school assemblies and that may be embarrassing enough to
stop them. But others prefer counselling.
Said a teacher from one of the schools: 'We do counsel our
students, inform their parents and, for those who seem to be
addicted, we even recommend psychiatric help.'
