NSPCC's 'naughty word' blunder leaves parents fuming..
Parents with 'certain surnames' have been blocked from the NSPCC's personalised Santa message service
Child protection software on the NSPCC website has singled out some families for having so-called 'naughty surnames'.
The Charity's 'Letter from Santa' service allows parents or relatives to contact Santa and ask for a personalised letter to be sent directly to their child - that's UNLESS you have a surname deemed 'naughty'.
Emma Hiscock from Lancashire attempted to apply for a letter for her daughter, and couldn't understand why she was being blocked from the website.
She told us, "When the error message came up I was really confused. I had only filled in brief details about my child and couldn't understand what might be deemed naughty, and then the penny dropped. I thought surely not my surname. I then tried the name Smith and that worked fine."
"When I contacted the NSPCC to complain they responded by saying there was no way around the 'naughty word' error message and that if I wanted to apply for a letter I would have to call them in person.
"To be honest I was really, really offended. It's a surname. It's not as if I have written something offensive in the letter. I feel like in a way it's discriminating against us and our family name, and it's like they are saying we should be ashamed of it because it threatens child safety and protection. I 100% support the NSPCC, which is why I was donating in the first place, but I really do feel this is ridiculous and actually, in this instance, sends out the wrong message"
Our news team has also spoken to other mums experiencing the same problem.
Kate Cocker from Manchester said, "This sort of thing happens all the time with our surname. I regularly ask people to check their junk mail for my emails as their filter has spotted "Cocker" and thinks it's rude! I understand that the NSPCC has to be cautious, but I would say that a Cock is a bird."
Laura Dickinson also spoke with us to say she finds it funny that some names are banned but only because, "I've had so much stick for my name growing up that name related stuff doesn't bother me anymore."
In a statement an NSPCC spokesperson said:
“The Letter from Santa website has a profanity filter activated to ensure that children do not receive any malicious mailings with explicit language used. As it is a piece of technology which is not as accurate as a human, it may have some issues recognising some surnames. Donors who are having issues can call our customer service line on 0344 417 0322 to place their order. We would like to apologise to anyone who has been inconvenienced by this protective measure and thank them for their support.”
Other names blocked by the child protection filter include:
- Dickson Sexton Cockcroft Cockerham Essex