CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Wake County parents are upset after their son could access adult-only websites on a district-issued laptop and while at school. They brought it to the attention of school and district leaders, but upset with the lack of action, they reached out to Troubleshooter Diane Wilson.
The dad who brought it to Wilson's attention said, "They've left us with no alternative, no choice but to contact you. I suppose to make them address this at least, let alone block this particular website, do whatever they need to do, to keep this from happening."
The Wake County parents, who asked us not to show their faces or use their names are upset after their son, a student at a Cary elementary school was able to access a well-known pornography website.
"This is hardcore pornography this is no joke, the boy's dad said."
The 4th grader's mom says her son told her kids at school showed him how to access the porn website.
"He said I watched something bad on my computer at school and it's scary, he said I saw scary things on my computer."
The parents showed ABC11 on their son's Wake County Schools issued laptop how he accessed the porn videos. Through a web browser, they typed in the porn website name and several adult websites came up on their son's district-issued laptop. The student's dad said, "Every time he'd accessed those URLS, it was during class time, during school."
The parents shared with ABC11 these emails they sent to their son's teacher and principal alerting them what their son was able to access and asked for a meeting. The principal did respond within hours, and the parents did email back agreeing to the meeting, but then there was no further communication so they emailed the area superintendent for their son's school. After no response, they reached out to ABC11 Troubleshooter.
"I can access it right now and this is over a week and a half ago. So not only potentially our son accessed again right now at school, if he had access to a computer, his buddies or his friends at school, or they're most likely still doing this at school," the dad said to ABC11.
The parents said they heard from the principal, and area superintendent and heard of the district's IT security after Wilson reached out to Wake County Schools to get some answers.
WCPSS provided this statement: A parent brought to our attention that a student was able to access inappropriate content through a website that was not restricted on our network. As soon as we were made aware, we blocked this website across the WCPSS network.
WCPSS uses automated enterprise-class filtering software and tools to protect students and staff from harmful online content, whether the school device is online at school or off-campus. In addition to the automated filtering system, we implement a rigorous manual review and adjustment process. This involves considering valuable feedback from our dedicated teachers, school administrators, and engaged parents. We strive to create a comprehensive and adaptive approach to online safety by combining technological solutions with human oversight.
We are in the process of evaluating new filtering software to ensure we deliver the highest level of online protection for our students and staff. Our primary goal is to maintain a safe, productive, and educationally enriching digital environment across all classrooms and workspaces.
However, the rapid and constant emergence of new websites poses an ongoing challenge. Each day, new content is introduced online, some of which may bypass current filters or present risks that were previously unanticipated. This ever-evolving digital landscape requires us to stay highly responsive and vigilant to protect against potential threats.
While we are committed to proactively managing online safety, the need to address these continuous changes often places us in a reactive position, responding to emerging issues as they arise.
We understand that education is a key component of prevention. We work to teach students to be responsible digital citizens who understand the difference between safe and unsafe content. These lessons, paired with the oversight of a teacher, help prepare our students to learn the skills they need to navigate our community in an increasingly online world. We also provide staff and parents with resources to learn about online safety and digital citizenship. You can review those resources here:https://www.wcpss.net/Domain/5857.
We are committed to maintaining a safe learning environment and we regularly evaluate our safety practices to meet the needs of our community.
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As for the parents the mom says, "I feel like as parents, we did our part to monitor his access to ensure that he was being responsible on his computer and using it for the right purposes. This happened on their watch. If they're going to make students use these computers use the computer, they need to provide better oversight of them, period."
Wilson reached out to the adult website, which could be accessed without entering an age or any identifiable information; they did not get back to her for comments.
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