Nova Scotia·NewEducation Minister Brendan Maguire says students have found workarounds to safeguards on school-issued computers.Student’s mother sounded alarm after daughter contacted by predators on school-issued laptopBlair Rhodes · CBC News · Posted: Nov 27, 2025 2:09 PM EST | Last Updated: 22 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Education Minister Brendan Maguire says students have found workarounds to the safeguards on school-issued computers. (CBC)Nova Scotia’s minister of Education and Early Childhood Development says he’s “disgusted” by online predators targeting children.Brendan McGuire was commenting on a CBC News story from earlier this week, about how predators were able to contact a 14-year-old girl through the Chromebook computer given to her by her school.“I was pretty upset, not just as the minister of education, an MLA, but as a father of three,” Maguire said following a cabinet meeting Thursday.Maguire said there are safeguards on the computers, but he acknowledged students have found workarounds. “Technology’s always changing, and so we need to adapt to it so when we have issues like this, it’s a learning experience,” Maguire said.He said his department is working with the RCMP and the regional centres of education on this issue. “We’re going to figure out how this happened, why it happened and how we adjust to it,” he said.Maguire dismissed suggestions that his department hasn’t been taking this issue seriously enough. He said when they discover students have learned a workaround, the department has an onus to eliminate the loophole.Maguire said more has to be done to educate students on online dangers.He said parents should have confidence that his department and the centres of education are doing everything they can. He added there are resources available to help parents deal with these sorts of situations.MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORBlair Rhodes has been a journalist for more than 40 years, the last 31 with CBC. His primary focus is on stories of crime and public safety. He can be reached at blair.rhodes@cbc.ca
N.S. education minister says he’s ‘disgusted’ by online predators in wake of recent incident
