Google slides images - question and a heads up

[Liziz]

At school this week, my child was completing a school project using Google Slides, and when using the "search the web" feature to find an image to add to her slideshow, came across a picture of a naked woman. In investigating this at home, I'm finding that there seems to be a bit of a loophole in the Google Safesearch features in Google Slides. The search terms DD used (and I subsequently duplicated) weren't inappropriate, and when searched on Google Images, or through Google Docs, no inappropriate pictures come up. But, when searching through Google Slides, they do.

First - just a heads up if your child uses Google Slides that the search feature there may not be as managed as some of the other products.

Second - any clue how I can report the image to Google? Can I do that? If the image was coming up in Google Images directly, there's an easy way to report it. But it isn't -- it's only coming up when using the search feature embedded within Slides, and the same report feature isn't available there.

Third - what level of supervision would you expect of a school if children are being asked to search the internet for pictures? I'm struggling between understanding the exact same thing could have happened at home under my supervision vs. being upset that the school "allowed" this to happen. I will say that at home I still don't let my younger DD do random web searches (she has to tell me in advance what she wants to look up, and I'll make sure she's in the room with me so I can keep an eye on the results that pop up) because I know that even the best parental controls/safe search settings aren't perfect.

[PZMommy]

How old is your DD as that makes a difference in how closely teachers should be monitoring what students are searching. If middle school or above, I don’t think much is supervised. 3rd-5th should have supervision, but things slip through filters and that isn’t a teacher’s fault. You even said yourself it could have happened at home. Under 3rd grade, I don’t think I’d let them search things up.

[bisous]

At my kid's school, they do a project in 6th grade called "The Garden of the Gods". It is adjacent to their study of Ancient Greek history and literature. They are assigned to dress up as one of the gods and have to research a speech about what they do, any stories about them, etc. and then the school is invited to come up to them where they have to tell their story.

Anyway. The project is so fraught with awkward search results on the school ipads that the teachers have enacted a protocol for what to do if/when you run into something weird. You're supposed to turn your screen over, raise your hand, and say "teacher, teacher". That way your teacher can help clear your screen and can let you know to talk to your parent if you're worried about anything you see.

I express this for two reasons. First, because I thought it was interesting that it was so expected to find strange results! Even at school and with their safety features enabled. And second because it was the first time my DS1 ever encountered naked images and it really bothered him. I wish I had had a better discussion with him about it first so he didn't feel so bad or like he had done anything wrong. I feel like images are really easy to encounter even when you aren't trying to at all.

OP, one thing DH has taught the kids with image searches is not to look beyond the "fold" of the page. Like once you get past the first page of image results things start getting weird. That is our counsel to them, but of course they decide to follow it when they aren't being supervised by us. I do make the kids do image searches on our desktop with a big monitor (my work computer) but I will say I do not supervise at all once they are in high school.

[Liziz]

How old is your DD as that makes a difference in how closely teachers should be monitoring what students are searching. If middle school or above, I don’t think much is supervised. 3rd-5th should have supervision, but things slip through filters and that isn’t a teacher’s fault. You even said yourself it could have happened at home. Under 3rd grade, I don’t think I’d let them search things up.

To be clear, I wasn't blaming the teacher for the fact that a search brought up an inappropriate picture, I realize that was beyond their ability to predict. But it did make me think through the things teachers should be aware of when assigning classwork that involves broad internet searches. I do think there's a tendency to assume that school computers are "locked down" and safe though, and I also think it's important for those supervising students to remember that no blocking software is completely foolproof, too. My DD is in 3rd grade.

At my kid's school, they do a project in 6th grade called "The Garden of the Gods". It is adjacent to their study of Ancient Greek history and literature. They are assigned to dress up as one of the gods and have to research a speech about what they do, any stories about them, etc. and then the school is invited to come up to them where they have to tell their story.

Anyway. The project is so fraught with awkward search results on the school ipads that the teachers have enacted a protocol for what to do if/when you run into something weird. You're supposed to turn your screen over, raise your hand, and say "teacher, teacher". That way your teacher can help clear your screen and can let you know to talk to your parent if you're worried about anything you see.

I express this for two reasons. First, because I thought it was interesting that it was so expected to find strange results! Even at school and with their safety features enabled. And second because it was the first time my DS1 ever encountered naked images and it really bothered him. I wish I had had a better discussion with him about it first so he didn't feel so bad or like he had done anything wrong. I feel like images are really easy to encounter even when you aren't trying to at all.

OP, one thing DH has taught the kids with image searches is not to look beyond the "fold" of the page. Like once you get past the first page of image results things start getting weird. That is our counsel to them, but of course they decide to follow it when they aren't being supervised by us. I do make the kids do image searches on our desktop with a big monitor (my work computer) but I will say I do not supervise at all once they are in high school.

The not looking below the "fold" of the page is advice I've never thought to give, but it makes sense. This particular image was indeed "below the fold".

[PZMommy]

Given your DD is in 3rd grade I think there should be limited searching on computers. Maybe in a small group at a table with a teacher close by to help. It’s hard because we want students to become better at working independently and to know how to use technology, but at the same things like this can happen because no filter is fool proof.