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The idea that floppy discs can be corrupting as well as corrupted seems
to be gathering pace. Computers in British schools, the story goes, are
increasingly being used by children to view pornography – whether gathered
from older siblings, foreign bulletin boards, ‘adult’ video games or just
scanned-in pictures. A survey published last week by a researcher at the
University of Central Lancashire suggested that among head teachers at secondary
schools, 31 per cent in boys-only schools were aware of computer pornography
at their schools; for mixed-sex schools the figure was almost 14 per cent.
Is it time to be concerned?

Disentangling truth from hype is made harder because the story ties
together three strands beloved of the media: the troubled education system,
the rapid development of technology, and sex.

In truth, the nation’s youth are probably not drowning in digital filth.
The survey was posted to 28 000 schools in Britain, and 27 per cent (a high
percentage for a postal survey) responded. Unfortunately, only a quarter
of the replies were from secondary schools – where the figures suggest the
trouble lies. And only 1.4 per cent of the total came from all-male secondary
schools, apparently the worse offenders.

A rigorous statistical analysis would have been valuable, but the survey’s
author, Vicki Merchant, feels that the figures are evidence enough. Why
might some schools not have replied? ‘Maybe they don’t necessarily want
to admit that they have got illegal material on their premises,’ she suggests.
Illegal material? ‘Hard-core (computer) pornography.’ Isn’t it more likely
that the schools didn’t feel they had a problem?

Teachers at a Midlands school contacted by New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ said that even
though they have many pupils who are computer enthusiasts, they had no problems
with pornography on the school machines. ‘We don’t deal with it in our discussion
groups, which do deal with matters like AIDS and sex education,’ commented
a teacher. An aside: 90 per cent of the pupils at that mixed-sex school
are Asian. Perhaps computer pornography is the preserve of the white middle
classes?

The other pointer to the need for caution is that adolescent boys have
always had a taste for pornography. Cracking down on computers would be
a classic case of shooting the messenger when what is really needed is a
greater effort to understand the technology that will be essential to the
next generation’s future. Computers do make it easier for children to come
across digital pornography. But they are sure to learn, just like their
parents (well, fathers) did before them, that it doesn’t approach the real
thing. Locking computers away will just increase the curiosity value instead
of satisfying it to the point of boredom.