PARENTS are being urged to install restrictive software onto home PCs after Dartmouth Community College computers were found to be bursting with pornography downloaded from the Internet.
The images, illegal if viewed by under-18s, were discovered by a mature student who was trying to take an examination in the IT suite at the college.
The woman, who asked not to be named because she has a child at the college, explained: 'I tried to work on the master computer but the memory was full.
'When we tried to find out why we found lists and lists of pornographic files which had been downloaded from the internet.
'It is worrying to think that young students could have accessed this material.'
Another student present at the adult education computer course that evening was Kim Fricker.
She said: 'If pornographic material has been found to be available to students at the college it begs the question of just how widespread an issue in schools this is.
'I think parents of all school-aged children will feel horrified and want to stop this from happening again.'
Keith Grey, vice principal at Dartmouth Community College, confirmed that pornographic images had been discovered on college computers.
He stressed that the problem had occurred during the initial trial period of using the internet and that immediate steps had been taken to restrict access.
'We have learned fast and now operate a system which will prevent this kind of problem happening again.
'I am disappointed that an older student downloaded this unpleasant material. It is irritating and annoying to think they have used school facilities in this way.
'We want a positive environment for our young students, with high access to our systems. It is possible that some of our younger students may have seen this material, but we doubt it.'
Now that the problem appears to be over at the college, Mr Grey is alerting parents to the ease at which children can access pornography via the internet.
'This is quite an issue and parents should monitor their home PCs' he declared.
Meanwhile, regular audits are being undertaken at the college to ensure new sites have not slipped through the net created by the college's internet provider.
A concerned parent of a college student, who asked not to be named, said: 'When I was in the computer suite I was flabbergasted to see that pornography of a very explicit nature had been downloaded from the internet, presumably by schoolchildren who have free access to this facility.
The parent claimed that it was 'common knowledge' amongst youngsters in Dartmouth that access to hard-core pornography was easily available at the college. 'We send our children to school to be educated, not to have their minds corrupted.'