BOLTON schools have "crossed the Atlantic" in their bid to stop pupils downloading computer porn into local classrooms.

Hayward School is the first in Britain to try out an American system to block children's access to pornography or other undesirable material on the Internet.

And other Bolton schools are expected to adopt the filter widely used to stop American children calling up salacious details about President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky when the Starr report was put on the Internet.

Hayward headteacher John Heaton says Bolton computer experts have chosen the American package partly because it has a complementary system which also checks electronic mail.

Mail-Gear will stop children sending "mucky messages" to each other when they get their own e-mail addresses and block obscene electronic junk mail from coming into schools.

Obscene material will be referred to a system administrator and the word forbidden will appear on screen if anyone tries to calls it up via e-mail or the Internet.

The administrator will also know who sent or called up inappropriate material.

Mr Heaton said: "I think every parent is concerned about how easy it is for children to link up to some of these absolutely appalling sites.

"As a head of a school I was obviously worried that we could be opening the floodgates to a mass of pornographic material kids could lay their hands on.

"We have to make sure that sort of thing does not get through and I am convinced that this product does work. It proved itself in America when the more salacious testimony contained in the Starr report did not get through."

Clean

Mr Heaton says the American system is also sophisticated enough to allow schools to build up a list of clean and relevant web sites that can be used in lessons.

"You might be using the Internet for a lesson on Shakespeare but, kids being kids, within 20 minutes you will have someone trying to call up something else...

"It is more likely to be mufc.com.uk. than pornography but this system allows us look up these sites over a period of time and restrict them to the ones which contain information relative to lessons."

The package will also stop children cheating by pinching a classmate's work or e-mailing answers during online exams.

American software company URLabs are behind the net filter I-Gear and launched the e-mail filter Mail-Gear in the US six months ago.

Mail-Gear already has 750,000 users on the other side of the Atlantic and the manufacturers are hoping success in Bolton will persuade more UK schools to choose the same system. Comment P10

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