Filters

While I do understand the idea that schools use filters for many different reasons, I think there is a false sense of security. Throwing up a filter is much more convenient then actually monitoring students individually. In addition, I think it’s disturbing that government funding is based on the use of Internet filtering software. Corruption is hard to ignore in government, and who’s to say this procedure is free from that? The federal E-rate program was developed to make sure schools use filters to obtain federal funding. However, we are just babying the students and not preparing them for the real world. In the past, schools relied on close supervision of all online actions of students by teachers monitoring their activity. Now schools and teachers are relying on Internet filtering software. (Huske 97) Furthermore, relevant information can be blocked from the students. From a health teacher’s standpoint, I dislike the idea of various forms of birth control are blocked by these filters. Society complains about increases in teen pregnancy, but how can we expect students to discover relevant information if we just shut out that domain entirely. Numerous subject searches showed too much information was blocked, which restricted an appropriate research method. (Schneider 93)

Students would benefit greater through electronic monitoring. Although this procedure is much more time consuming, it is more effective. Plus it would be easier to “ween” the students off of the monitoring by gradually decreasing the amount of supervision. This would allow students to eventually be entirely independent in searching the internet, and isn’t this our goal in the long run?

Resources
Electronic Privacy Information Center. Faulty Filters: How content filters block access to kid friendly information on the web. December 1997. Available: http://www2.epic.org/reports/filter_report.html. Jul. 2003
From Now On. “A Dozen Reasons Schools Should Avoid Filtering.” The Educational Technology Journal 5.5 March/April 1996. Internet. Available: http://optin.iserver.net/fromnow/mar96/whynot.html. Jul. 2003
Grey, Duncan. The Internet in School. 2nd ed. London: Continum, 2001.
Heide, Anne, and Dale Henderson. Active Learning in the Digital Age Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001.
Huske, Lynne, Nancy Protheroe, and Elizabeth Shellard. The Internet Connection: Exploring the Power of the Web as a Teaching Tool. Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service. 2001