Filters In Schools

Web filters are a problem to everyone in school, teachers and also students.“The Internet, despite having great potential, is not being used to its full potential. It is a great research tool that is being limited by the school’s overly restrictive filter,” said Patrick Cloonan. Web filters at schools are way too restrictive because teachers have stated that these restrictions have been a barrier of conducting a proper lesson to students because certain websites will not allow teachers to present what is needed. Students that have internet connections at home have exposure, but those students who rely on Internet access at school are not getting access to the same sites that should be accessed. Another concern with internet filters is that

An article written by MindShift titled “What’s the Impact of Overzealous Internet Filtering in Schools?” Quotes a statement from Kristen Batch saying “The over-filtering that occurs today affects not only what teachers can teach but also how they teach. It creates barriers to learning and acquiring digital literacy skills that are vital for college and career readiness, as well as for full participation in 21st-century society.” This supports the idea of over restrictive web filters, not only do they decrease ways of learning but they are seen as a “barrier”. Some may feel that these should not be referred to as restrictions, but something a bit more broad such as censorship. Reasons and point of views such as these explain why many may see restrictions as way too restrictive of what students and teachers can access to increase their learning

“Top 3 Benefits of Monitoring & Filtering Web Traffic for Schools” written by Team Gwava states one of the mentioned benefits are that these filters retain control of student access. This suggest that because of these restrictions, students may be held back from visiting websites or any internet feature the schools believes is not essential for school. This statement is blind to the fact that a large portion of the kids in school have cell phones that allows them to access any website wanted or needed and even though some of these cell phones may be off, there are apps out in stores such as Open Door that acts as a hack for students and lets them venture through any website wanted while on school wifi. Therefore, while schools are coming up with blocks the kids find ways to work around