Should we be teaching students to use the internet appropriately or should we be protecting them with blockers? Many blockades are placed in the way of educators trying to use online learning. Some of the hardest to overcome are from the federal and state governments. Instead of teaching children to make good choices and use the internet safely and appropriately, we are required by the government to provide blockades to “protect” children from the worst of the internet. Without a sufficient number of blockades the government will refuse to provide funding for access to the internet for our students. This requirement causes 2 major problems: 1) the students do not learn how to use the internet appropriately and 2) bright children feel challenged to break the blockades instead of using their energies constructively.
"The problem you describe is one that predates discussions about acceptable use policies and blockers - and is one that probably hasn't been adequately addressed. Schools are presumed to operate, from a legal standpoint, "in loco parentis" - in the place of the parent. That imposes a legal standard on the school and its teachers to do everything possible to protect children. So, schools where doors aren't locked and it is therefore possible for people to access the building inappropriately are deemed to be operating in violation of this standard and face the possibility of lawsuits and sanctions in the event of a problem (remember the Laurie Dann situation in suburban Chicago several years ago). As a result, the protection standard now is presumed to apply equally to the possibility of children being unprotected in their use of the Internet - hence the requirement for blocking software. Children by nature are children - not adults - and they don't always understand that things they find on the Internet may not be accurate or appropriate to their age and experience. They do not always understand that things they do on the Internet may make them vulnerable: consider the case of children who post photos of themselves on My Space or Facebook, leaving them open to contact by pedophiles. If it is the parent's responsibility to monitor their child's use of the Internet at home, and the legal standard under which schools continue to operate is "in loco parentis," then it is logical to assume that schools will continue to be faced with the challenge of providing reasonable access while blocking other. And many schools have blocked Wikipedia because of the site's own inability or reluctance to verify the validity of the credentials of those who post to the site. I don't think that the issue is either all black or all white - there is room for lots of gray, and the shades keep changing. Keep in mind - it wasn't too long ago that we banned children from having cell phones in school on the recommendations of police departments because the perception was that they were frequently the preferred method for drug dealers to make contact. As cell phone usage proliferated, we changed the policy. Now many schools require students to keep cell phones turned off - not just on vibrate - and to keep them in lockers, backpacks, etc. Policies change as we gain more experience. This will too."
