The Child Internet Protection Act (2000), requires all schools and libraries that receive E-rate funding to protect students from pictures that are obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors. This has led to a very broad scope of what is considered obscene or harmful to minors. Some school systems take this to the extreme and block everything not directly tied to an educational purpose, while other systems block the obvious and wait on issues for further restrictions. According to a 2016 article "The fundamental question has been how schools are interpreting the law-and whether districts are acting in the best interests of children or simply functioning as online overlords" (Anderson, 2016).
Who exactly determines what is harmful to minors? There are many out there that would consider YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and many of the other social media and media sharing sites to be harmful. Some may only consider pornography, guns, and violence to be harmful. How does a school system make those determinations?
With input and opinions coming from parents, students, teachers, laws, and community members, those in charge of internet filters can have a tough time deciding what to block and what to allow. This gets even more complicated when you start monitoring bandwidth usage and trying to balance educational use versus personal use. Network administrators have a tough time balancing all of this into a working solution that meets the definition of the law and district policy.
Within my district we have very limited filtering powers. The portal we are provided by Alabama Super Computer gives me the option to block certain categories or specific URLs. This leaves me at the mercy of whoever places sites into categories. I have had educational sites blocked on numerous occasions because they were placed in a category that I am required to block. I have to explain that I do not set those rules and am required to manually whitelist the site.
I have loosened other restrictions tremendously in recent years. We now allow Twitter and Facebook through wired connections, (wireless is blocked for usage reasons). I also block Netflix for usage and bandwidth concerns. I personally feel that more should be opened up and the education of the teachers and students needs to improve. I also feel that supervision should be a little better within our labs and mobile carts.
By the time students reach high school they should be given higher expectations of how to behave on the internet. They should be monitored, but also be taught what is appropriate in a school setting and allowed a little self-regulation. "Without question, students need to become digitally literate (having the knowledge and ability to use information and technology for varied purposes) because ultimately they live in an unfiltered world" (Anderson, 2016).
Engage for
Education (2011). Of course, internet safety is VITAL. Online image. Flikr. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/engageforeducation/6263161391
Within my district we have very limited filtering powers. The portal we are provided by Alabama Super Computer gives me the option to block certain categories or specific URLs. This leaves me at the mercy of whoever places sites into categories. I have had educational sites blocked on numerous occasions because they were placed in a category that I am required to block. I have to explain that I do not set those rules and am required to manually whitelist the site.
I have loosened other restrictions tremendously in recent years. We now allow Twitter and Facebook through wired connections, (wireless is blocked for usage reasons). I also block Netflix for usage and bandwidth concerns. I personally feel that more should be opened up and the education of the teachers and students needs to improve. I also feel that supervision should be a little better within our labs and mobile carts.
References
Anderson,
M. (2016) How internet filtering hurts kids. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/internet-filtering-hurts-kids/479907/
I do not envy you or your colleagues. No matter what choices you make, someone is going to be angry. What is offensive, obscene, or inappropriate to one teacher, student, or parent, is acceptable to another. Of course, you also have the difficulty of what is okay for a senior, may not be okay for a freshman. I guess it comes down to teaching our students to be good digital citizens. Educate them on Internet safety,set rules, and have consequences if they violate the rules. Common Sense Media offers videos to educate parents on Internet safety. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy-and-internet-safety. Hopefully, if parents and educators can agree on common rules, we will have less discord and more student compliance.
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