Tech directors vs students - bet on the students

I'm a student. As a student, my school is one of my favorite places to be: I enjoy learning and find almost all my teachers to be agreeable. I'm also a programmer and an advocate of free speech. In that role, my school holds a more dubious distinction: it’s the first place where my interests in computers and my rights were questioned. Nathan Ringo

The BoingBoing website headline reads:

In Wayzata, Minnesota, a school spies on its students 

<http://boingboing.net/2014/12/03/in-wayzata-minnesota-a-schoo.html>

Nathan writes that his school has "an unsavory policy of blocking not just porn, but anything and everything they feel is inappropriate in a school setting. Worse, I could not find out who makes the judgements about what should be considered inappropriate. It’s not stated in the school board policy that mandates the filter: that police say that the filter should “only block porn, hate speech, and harassment.” Our censorware, however, blocks material ranging from Twitter to comic books. Meanwhile, students are told to use Twitter as part of our Spanish classes and our school offers a course on comic books. Beyond blocking sites that are used in classes, there are also many false positives."

Fellow tech directors, be warned - Nathan could be (and probably is) a student in every one of our schools. And this is what his letter made me think about...

1. Do we have a transparent policy on Internet filtering? What is blocked, how are those decisions made, and how can stakeholders have sites blocked or unblocked?*
2. By overblocking are we simply encouraging students to find ways to go around the district filter? Are we only blocking those with inadequate technology skill?
3. Have we clearly articulated to students what "a limited right to privacy" means in our AUPs and, more importantly, in our practices? Do our students know that nearly all institutions retain the right to view the use of the Internet by employees if there is a suspicion of wrong doing?

If filtering becomes a contest between technology directors and thousands of bright young students like Nathan, we adults will lose. The kids are smarter, have better tech skills, employ PLNs we've never dreamed of, and have a hell of a lot more discretionary time to spend on cracking or hacking or just trying to get to the resources they need.

I would genuinely like to read the Wayzata administration's side of this story. And yes, I am sure there is a very compelling one.

Our relationship with our brightest kids cannot be adversarial.

* This is our district's procedure, but I am not sure how many staff or students know about it:

Blocking or unblocking websites:
All requests come in via the "Web Filter Change Request Form", located in the Technology Department 'How To' section.  Once completed by the end-user, it must be signed by the user's Principal or supervisor, then forwarded to the IT Director.  Once there, it is reviewed by the Instructional Technology Advisory Committee, made up of teachers, administrators, and principals, then ruled on. Once the change has been approved, it is passed back for implementation.

Image source 

And yes, I've been banging this drum for a loooong time...

• Are You Sure You Want an Internet Filter? Virtual Censorship is Still Censorship TechTrends, May/June 1998
• Best Practices for Meeting CIPA Requirements EdTech Magazine Q4 2005.
• Internet Filters: Censorship by Any Other Name?, Emergency Librarian (Teacher Librarian), May 1998
• The Neglected Side of Intellectual Freedom, March/April 2013
• Freedom to Learn (due process and filtering), January/February 2012
• Freedom and Filters, February 2003
• Creating High Temptation Environments, September 2000
• Maintaining Intellectual Freedom in a Filtered World, May 2005. 
• “Filtering Fallacies” Power Up column, Educational Leadership, December/January 2013
• Filtering Follies November 2007

Comments

[Nathan Mielke]

My biggest challenge is getting staff to figure out that no filter is fool-proof. Some messages I get make it sound like getting around the filter is a major infraction...like cheating. I believe it's a pride thing for some...that kid isn't paying attention, you need to do something about it. If you block sites, then block more, then take the computer away, then take the pen and paper away...they're still unengaged. That's the core of all our problems and that's a system issue for the most part.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Nathan,

My experience is that more requests for block come because sites are distracting, not pornographic or in other ways harmful. Blocking becomes a means of classroom control - not what it should be.

I agree - this is a systems issue, not a technology problem.

Doug​

[Luke Allen]

Teaching internet safety, netiquette and research skills with a rigid filtering policy in place is like telling your class," Today we're going to learn how to swim, but no one is allowed in the pool."

[Doug Johnson]

Great analogy!

Doug

[Kenn Gorman]

I would add one more reason why student choose to get around internet filtering - social acceptance. Once a student figures out a work around, they often gain acceptance with their current peers and other students. The phrase "ask Billy for help" can become a very powerful social influence / peer pressure situation...and for those students who might be technologically brilliant yet socially limited having the ability to impress others with their skills and abilities is POWER.

[Doug Johnson]

Cool to be a geek today!

Doug

[March 2016 Printable Calendar]

great post, i found this very useful, thanks for sharing.