Hi, i'm Noah, Parents of 4th-grade students at the Pedro de Toledo school are asking the administration whether they should use the online Scratch program, the offline editor, or ScratchJr because interacting with the internet is dangerous due to hackers, stalkers, and older people who harm younger children. Some say yes, Scratch is extremely safe. However, Portuguese is not censored by the censor, as many strong words and slang like “Sapatão” (a derogatory term for lesbian) pass through the system without problems. This can cause cyberbullying, and inappropriate projects appear. Sprunki is censored, but if you search for a character like “Mr. Fun Computer,” students can access the censored projects.

If it gets to a that extreme point with what you said about the filter the ST will just do something about it, because it has to be apporopriate for kids they are faster than some other sites

It's generally pretty safe.
You can contact Scratch if you have concerns.

Many of these concerns can be addressed by reporting them when they show up. Instruct students to not respond to any derogatory messages and report them silently, and bullies will lose interest rather quickly.

Hackers can be countered by using strong passwords. Encourage students to have at least 20 characters in their password so that they will not be at risk.

If all else fails, you can have students download the offline editor. This is likely the best course of action if you dont think that the kids will be safe on the internet.. Scratch Jr. is a poor alternative to Scratch as it has many functions stripped.

Of course, it is always good to supervise kids on the internet. Make sure parents do this when they are at home and you do this while they are at school.

Hi,

One thing I'd recommend is not letting your students onto active chatrooms (Grifftopia, Gaehive, Different By Design, etc.) These are Scratch-based chatrooms, and while they are perfectly fine (and fun) for older Scratchers, sometimes inappropriate topics are discussed or the chatrooms are spammed with filter bypasses. While the chatrooms are moderated, often heavily, they're so active that some inappropriate comments can show before the Scratch Team hides them. Don't worry, this rarely happens elsewhere on Scratch, but for elementary school students, the chatrooms could be a bit too much if a student wanders on to one. The rest of Scratch is fine.

Honestly? I'd recommend your students use the offline editor. There's no risk of being exposed to anything inappropriate, being hacked, or just being bullied. It's the best choice for Scratchers who aren't coming onto Scratch for the social element of it.
Hope this helped!

Edit: Here are the links to the mentioned chatrooms:
https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/5842709/comments - Gaehive
https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/37069320/comments - Different By Design
https://scratch.mit.edu/users/griffpatch/ (scroll down to the comments) - Grifftopia

HollyEuca wrote:

https://scratch.mit.edu/users/griffpatch/ (scroll down to the comments) - Grifftopia

The link is actually: https://scratch.org/users/griffpatch/#comments

cookedasparagus8 wrote:

HollyEuca wrote:

https://scratch.mit.edu/users/griffpatch/ (scroll down to the comments) - Grifftopia

The link is actually: https://scratch.org/users/griffpatch/#comments

Oops.
Hehe.

Here's my response to this situation:

Scratch isn't as safe as you think. Every social website has a chance of predator usage.
Keep your students off of the website as much as possible. There are only four moderators in the Scratch team, and inappropriate content can slip by FAST.
There was a link in Grifftopia that had an inappropriate profile picture and it's still up to this day after I reported it.

It really depends on what part of the website.
The scratch website is mostly family friendly (the glitch mentioned I have seen very very few people use it. It’s best you do not mention it though so little kids don’t go around cussing out others) and if you really just focus on projects and using the comments responsibly and actually knowing how to be safe on the internet, you’ll be fine. Some parts though like grifftopia and certain communities are not entirely appropriate and hence should be stayed away from by younger users. The most important questions you should be asking is “Do the kids know how to use the internet responsibly? Have they been taught how to use the internet responsibly? Has it been drilled in to them to use the internet responsibly?”

always watch an young child if they go on scratch
it not really safe for young children i suggest it for older children
if you decide to let your child play scratch watch them and make sure they don't click on anything bad for their age

oops i meant student

and did you forgot about some users posting sprunki and hazbin and a lot more even thought the creators told them it not for kids so yea alway watch childrens whle they on scratch to make sure they not watching tuff for much older user

scratch is pretty safe compared to other popular parts of the internet, but still probably keep a watch on them.