Filtering in School Computers: My Opinion

Personally, I think that filters on school computers make sense, but they have to be done well. There are, of course, some sites that students shouldn't have access to during school hours or within the school building. Such sites would include sexually explicit sites, those with criminal activity, or even social media sites as they could distract from learning. On the one hand, it's important to keep the learning environment focused on learning. On the other hand, it's also important to keep in mind the limitations that broad strokes filters place on learning. For example, a broad stroke ban on the word “breast” in school computers may, in theory, seem like a good way to keep sexually explicit materials from students, but may in practice lead to frustrated students trying to find information about breast cancer.

The easiest method to filter a school's computer is to ban keywords, such as “breast” or “porn” but the word ban is very simplistic and it doesn't discern the difference between inappropriate sites and medical sites using the word “breast”, or between explicit sites and a news article mentioning “porn” which may still be appropriate for students, especially older students. A truly simplistic word ban may also block an entire news site based on a banned keyword in one article.  A high school student might write about a child pornography case for a civics or journalism class, whereas the same articles would be inappropriate in a setting with younger students.

Consequently, a more fine tuned approach is needed. While a blanket ban on words like “cocaine” would work well in an elementary school setting, it might prevent completely appropriate science or social studies related searches in middle or high school classrooms. A parental controls app, such as Blocksi, that uses a more complex vetting system would better fit the needs of a middle or high school. Even then, there are always exceptions that will come up in every school. The app may malfunction, or it might be overly strict for the school. A certain assignment may present a challenge to the block.

As far as social media sites, there are still exceptions. Mainly, the exception should be made for YouTube, which certainly has applications within the classroom. I could also imagine a project for a civics or citizenship type class about social media and the ways in which laws have to change to accommodate the technology and its uses, including the unfortunate side effect: cyber bullying. For the uses of that class, it would be a good idea to temporarily unblock the social media websites so that students could access these sites for observation.

There is also the issue of proxy servers that will allow students to get around their schools' blocks. These are usually only an issue in high schools and middle schools, as younger students usually don't know how to look for them. As such, the schools need something more than a url block on each type of site.

The filtering system also needs to be on more than one browser, otherwise a student could use or download a different browser to completely circumvent the school filtering systems.

Generally, schools need these blocks to maintain an education focused environment. Just as a teacher would not allow a student to read comic books or pass notes in class, the school needs to prevent as many distractions as they can. Given the technology that now exists, and how necessary it is to students and their education, these blocks need to be sophisticated. It would be worthwhile for each school district, if not the individual schools, to invest in at least one IT professional who can monitor student computer activities in the school buildings. If the budget allows it, each school should really have at least one IT manager. Not only would having an IT tech on hand help to prevent students from breaking through the schools' blocks, but they would be able to catch any virus attacks on the school more quickly, and they would be there to help students, teachers, and other staff with any technical problems arising from the technology we now use in education.