The Filter Web Sites Dilemma
Interesting thoughts, rumors, remembered statements…:
Maybe there are 80 billion web pages.
Probably 10 % of the web pages are “harmful to students” [i.e. pornography].
The best web filters set at the most restrictive setting only block 92% of what needs to be blocked while blocking 25% of what should not be blocked.
When the filter is set at the least restrictive then 86% of what needs to be blocked is blocked while less than 10% of what should not be blocked gets blocked.
Many students with most phones can access anything school filters can block.
Previous post on similar topic
These seem to be 5 good reasons why to block and what should be blocked:
- We do have a custodial responsibility for our students.
- CIPA requires blocking sites defined harmful to children (porn etc…)
- Sites that pose a danger to the security of the system (viruses, spy ware, etc.) Some downloading of some software can “destroy” a computer.
- Bandwidth hogs.
- We really do not want to be on the front page of the news.
However, these seem to be 10 good reasons why not to block:
1. We cannot get to web sites we need for instruction.
2. Unilateral blocking of categories like blogs really limits our access to useful information.
3. The inability to download podcasts severely limit access to valuable information for educators and students.
4. Treating all games the same prevents our students from access to very educational games.
5. Students need to be taught responsibility and how to deal with various types of sites on the web.
6. Science sites are particularly over-blocked. Science is an area of need for our students. Science videos get stopped and treated as entertainment.
7. If all controversial web sites are blocked, we educators lose the opportunity to teach our students to be critical thinkers.
8. If the filtering system is too prominent, then educators may become complacent and abrogate their responsibility to monitor student use.
9. When web sites are open one day then used to build a lesson and then closed by the time to use the lesson it is extremely frustrating.
10. Students have access to the web at home (and through their cell phones) so our using too restrictive of a filter creates a totally artificial and false environment compared to the real world.
Here are some thoughts for recommending a process for blocking and unblocking discussion:
- It is easier to block a site than to unblock one. Unblocking requires technical evaluation as well as content evaluation.
- At some point, we will be able to utilize groups and users in Active Directory structure to allow different access for different needs. Vary the degree of restrictiveness of the filter depending on ones login. So, teachers would have unrestricted access to the web, secondary students would have least restrictive access, and elementary students would have most restrictive access.
- Educators using web sites need to understand their responsibility of being a discriminating consumer of information, model such, and teaching such in addition to regular monitoring students while they search the Internet.
- We began talking about how sites would be requested to be blocked and unblocked. These suggestions varied depending on if we were assuming nothing changed or that we got the filter to be less restrictive. To have a site blocked it was suggested to use the model of how a book is challenged. We thought about identifying a group of 5 people who would be the Reconsideration Committee. When a site was recommended to be blocked the reconsideration team would look at it and make a determination. If 3 responded with a recommendation to block then it would be blocked. This could be handled by e-mail. We said that some criteria would have to be developed.
The list of categories the filtering company blocks needs to be revisited. Below are the categories that our filter blocks that I think need to be reversed.
DEFAULT FOR ALL USERS:
| myspace | myspace type websites | Blocked |
Adult
| Name | Description | Action |
| suspicious | Recently discovered sites with suspicious words or phrases | Blocked |
| gambling | Gambling, casinos, betting, lottery and play-for-cash/sweepstakes | Blocked |
Forums, chat, email
| Name | Description | Action |
| forums | Unmoderated personal expression | Blocked |
| forums.blogs | Webblogs | Blocked |
| forums.newsgroups | Newsgroups, usenet and subscription newsletters | Blocked |
| forums.personals | Personal web pages and personal ads | Blocked |
| forums.social_networking | Social networking and related websites such as myspace, facebook, and orkut. | Blocked |
| forums.im | Instant messaging | Blocked |
| forums.p2p | Peer to peer sites | Blocked |
Kids and teens
| Category | Description | Action |
| kids_and_teens.chat | Monitored chat websites suitable for kids | Blocked |
Recreation
| Category | Description | Action |
| humor | Humor, puzzles, and brain-teasers | Blocked |
| entertainment | Movies, television, radio, and celebrities | Blocked |
| games | Games, anime, cartoons, wallpapers and screen savers | Blocked |
In the past, I would guess that our “Filtering Philosophy” was to block everything that was not specifically educational (as defined narrowly).
I would like for us to change our “Filtering Philosophy” to unblock everything that is not harmful.
How to handle blocking web sites in the future
1. Any site asked to be blocked that has previously asked to be unblocked must go to the Reconsideration Committee.
2. Any site that falls into the 3 (yet to be determined by a committee but would be similar to my 5 good reasons at the top) criteria for blocking can be blocked without going to the committee. If the filtering administrator has any doubts, she can forward the decision to block to the Reconsideration Committee.
How to handle unblocking web sites in the future
1. Once educators have been reminded of their responsibility and consequences relative to the web, then any educator that asks for a site to be unblocked for an educational reason shall have the site unblocked. If the site was already previously blocked as a result of meeting one of the 3 blocking criteria then the decision can go to the Reconsideration Committee.
2. A presentation could be created and a process for the information disseminated to teachers as to what their responsibilities and subsequent consequences are relative to the Internet.
The issue of web sites that are discovered by an educator and then used as a part of a lesson and attention drawn to the site by its discovery and use causes the filtering company to now label it as a category that is blocked thus rendering the web site useless for the lesson still needs to be resolved. Perhaps if we have fewer categories blocked then this will happen less.
What other concerns need to be considered when creating a “Filtering Philosophy” and blocking/unblocking procedure?
February 9th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Love the monster. The ideas are great, too. It’s definitely time for less banning and more intelligent open access to the internet.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:02 am
How about letting educators and secondary students take responsibility for the unblocking of sites at the point of access – right there on the spot? Scenario: I run across a blocked site. I request that it be unblocked. The filter immediately presents to me a series of blunt questions or agreed upon criteria like “is this a p@rn site” and “do you take responsibility for the unblocking of this site” or “do you have to download anything to access this site”. We answer the questions and make the determination. They would just have to do the technical unblocking. If we feel strongly enough to unleash the site and take responisbility for it, then we should trust in those convictions. We could make the quick-step unblocking option available ONLY if the user is logged on with our TRACKABLE, unique student and teacher IDs. And again, only for secondary students. Definitely keep the obviously inapproriate and damaging categories unblockable – like p@rn and g@mbling – but open up blogs, YouTube, etc with the option of the user taking responsibility for unblocking immediately.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:06 am
How about letting educators and secondary students take responsibility for the unblocking of sites at the point of access – right there on the spot? Scenario: I run across a blocked site. I request that it be unblocked. The filter immediately presents to me a series of blunt questions or agreed upon criteria like “is this a p@rn site” and “do you take responsibility for the unblocking of this site” or “do you have to download anything to access this site”. We answer the questions and depending on the answers, the site becomes unblockable or opens up. If we feel strongly enough to unleash the site and take responsibility for it, then we should trust in those convictions. We could make the quick-step unblocking option available ONLY if the user is logged on with our TRACKABLE, unique student and teacher IDs. And again, only for secondary students. Definitely keep the obviously inapproriate and damaging categories unblockable – like p@rn and g@mbling – but open up blogs, YouTube, etc with the option of the user taking responsibility for unblocking immediately.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I have found that many items I want to look at are blocked because they are blogs or forums or considered entertainment, but the last two times I have requested a site to be unblocked, it was done within 24 hours. That is a lot faster than it used to take.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I really like Renae’s thoughts on this topic. With four classes in the library almost every period this week, quite a bit of time was wasted on trying to get through legitimate sites that were blocked. I ended up printing articles at home.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I am coming late to this discussion so if this has been addressed please forgive me but I was wondering if it is possible to block some computer but not all. For example, many sites are blocked because they deal with violent content. This might be inappropriate for an elementary audience but it is hard to teach WWII to high school students without access to some of the sites that might not be appropriate for elementary audiences but are more appropriate for older students. If we could do this, teachers could access most websites that contain political cartoons so that they can edit for the ones they want and need to use but students would not see the more graphic ones. The ideal would be that sites the provides that have these types of materials would not post obscene examples but they often don’t. It is a same the prevent the use of the hundreds of appropriate ones just because a site has a couple of questionable ones.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
It’s way better than it used to be , thanks to your efforts. Right now the blocking appears to have no rhyme nor reason since my lunch bunch has no trouble bringing up Yahoo Music videos and Super Mario.
February 17th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I think there is better access than what we used to have in our district. Also, the time it takes for unblocking sites seems to be improving. The categories like “entertainment” need to be re-evaluated. Why can we get to Yahoo music, but the Houston Ballet was blocked ? – until we requested access to it.
Secondly, could we have a better system for tracking down the student violators using the web inappropriately and consistent consequences? I had a student from Canada who told me they had a system in their district whereby each printout at school included the students’ ID # at the bottom of the printout – so it was easy to find the person printing out inappropriate items. Equally, it seems to be very hard for teachers/administrators to delve into the history on our computers for specific users. Instead of blocking things for “everyone” – why not be more consistent with dropping privilege to those few who violate? This is a system which punishes everyone because of a few who don’t follow policy.
Monitoring is also a key component to freeing up the Internet to students. Teachers should be knowledgeable users with regards to web searches & searching databases before they assign research projects. In this way monitoring takes place at site & not a blanket block for all.
Teachers need help in creating research that steers students towards valuable web sites/databases. I have witnessed well meaning teachers who asked students to “get on the computer & find out everything you can about – Greek Mythology” .. Uh Oh !!
February 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I originally was the advocate for no filters what-so-ever, and I have now been educated that this is not possible nor something I feel so strongly about any more. I will still be advocating as much as possible for as little filtering as possible and ease of unblocking sites as needed by SBISD employees (Not sure about students-I wouldn’t let my middle school students have this option at this point).
1. I like the idea of a filter free IP Address that allows teachers access to all sites. How they can transfer this info to an actual lesson or presentation is a question I still have.
2. This is my first real use of a blog and it is quite amazing. I can see how this could be used as a learning tool especially by students that this is just a natural part of their day to day activities.