D-C Times

Blocked websites cause mixed stuent opinions

Friday, March 05, 2010 By Diocelina Vazquez

You’re in the library working on a big project that will determine half of your grade and you’re searching for some fun music and videos and even a couple of images for your power point. What happens next ruins your day. You are not allowed to have access to the videos and images you want, and you end up going to the same page… “Content blocked by your organization.” There is nothing left to do other than panic. The reason for the blocked sites is because the company, which the district buys, filters from decides the “bad websites” and therefore they are blocked. The Child Protection Act, funds the technology in our district but in order for this to happen the district must block any inappropriate websites. “We’re responsible for students here, at home the student’s parents look out for them,” said David Hatcher, Media teacher. “We block websites to protect students from gambling or communication with strangers that might be stalkers.” Sophomore, Mayra Villasenor thinks it’s pointless to block websites. “I understand blocking some websites before classes start but why during classes?” said Mayra Villasenor, sophomore. “Some students need some websites that are blocked for searching topics on school assignments.” Mayra said she has had problems when she was trying to research information for projects, such a history project where she was required to look for images. She thinks that there is more to worry about than the things that can be found in the Internet. Although many think that blocking some websites is only cutting back on students’ resources, other students are glad that websites that can distract them such as Facebook and MySpace are blocked. “It really helps you to stay in line and do your work when you’re supposed to,” said Jessica Garcia, sophomore. There are students who go around the firewalls and complain about websites that are blocked. But Hatcher said the school would take drastic measures. Any student who gets caught going around the firewalls will be exempt from computer privileges, because they are violating federal law.