Have you noticed that more and more internet sites have been recently banned from school electronic devices? The district’s Information Systems and the wifi is responsible for site banning from student chrome books.  The district tries to censor websites which can be contain distractions, games, and inappropriate content. but even then students still find a way to reach these sites so what’s the point of banning them?

“When it comes to blocking sites, we don’t even control that. The IS department is in control of that,” says Ms. Latta. “IS takes care of the whole district.”

The IS department installs a firewall called Barracuda. The Barracuda firewall’s purpose is to block inappropriate keywords such as cuss words. A main way that many websites make money is by running ads. Sometimes, these ads can lead to viruses infecting computers and showing inappropriate materials.  The firewall blocks some of these ads as well.

But although the intentions to protect the students is apparent, students still find ways to reach these sites, so what is the point of banning them?  Also, there are some worthwhile sites which students genuinely need to access for research or school work. Teachers and students often feel frustrated because the accessibility to needed sites are blocked.  Often, students end up using their own personal devices to open blocked sites.

“I find it very hard to research or search anything of importance without it being blocked. It also takes our internet freedom from the school. I think students should  be allowed to search anything of their choice as long as it doesn’t take focus away from their work and does not prohibit any explicit content. Restrictions should only be made to sites are explicit and unsafe. Its up to the students to search up anything that is the right choice,” says Paulo Campos, junior.

Often, teachers can request certain websites to be opened for classes conducting research.  This request can be sent to the site’s computer tech.