Page 5 - March 14 issue

news 5 THE SPOTLIGHT | BDSPOTLIGHT.COM | MARCH 14, 2014 BD’S WEB-BLOCKING SYSTEM THE INS AND OUTS OF WHY SOME SITES NEED TO BE BLOCKED IN THE TOWNSHIP By Nicole Tackett staff writer f you are browsing the internet here at Ben Da- blocking considers all other aspects of what a website vis, you may stumble upon that dreaded blue has to offer. screen telling you the website you are looking Dana Lile, who manages how our websites are fl- Ifor is inaccessible. You may have asked your- tered, makes sure a website is safe for our school com- self why that website was blocked, or be frustrated at puters to use. Besides preventing viruses and mak- the thought of not being able to get the information ing sure a site does not lead someone to a place they you need for an assignment or English paper. should not be during school hours, she explains some It is relatively obvious why websites like Twitter, prospects of the system that many of us probably do Tumblr or Facebook are not permitted, considering not realize. social media is an obvious distraction from a learn- “There are multiple levels of flter,” Lile said. “The ing environment and its purpose. What about the sites staff is less fltered than the students. However, age that we have traveled to and been shocked to see “de- doesn’t matter for the students and their computers. nied access” written across the page? What’s fltered for high school is fltered for kinder- Whether or not any of this upsets you, you are garten.” probably curious to why we have this system in the If you have felt babied by our blocking system, this frst place, especially for popular educative websites could be the explanation you were looking for as to such as YouTube, Google Translate and multiple other why the system seems strict for our age group. “You need to remember that a six-year-old miscellaneous sources that have been deemed as inap- “It’s typical for students not to understand the can see its content. You have to think of it propriate for our school computers. blocking system we have here,” Lile said. “If I open a from our perspective.” “There’s no reason to block certain websites, like few websites, you need to remember that a six-year- - Dana Lile (above) YouTube,” junior DeAnthony Stanford said. “There’s old can see its content. You have to think of it from no point in blocking it because it can be used for edu- our perspective.” cational purposes and is already fltered anyway.” Considering the broad range of viewers in the K-12 It is easy to argue the convenience of some of the age group who have complete access to what is per- websites that happen to be blocked, as well as the po- mitted on our internet, it is understood why some of tential for them to be used in an educational way. Al- the things that are normal to us could be inappropri- though it is true that there are circumstances in which ate or confusing to the younger age group. More inter- some mainstream websites can be used for school re- net fltering is needed once you consider this aspect of lated things, the probability of a student using them the situation. for a whole other purpose is also there. Although a lot is blocked on the internet, the pol- What do you use your media for when you are icy isn’t completely strict. Many games and non-ed- at home? How much of your time is spent looking ucational sites are purposely left open, giving a little through pointless things on Vine or laughing over cat leeway to the system. However, the distraction of the videos? Teens are constantly looking for a source of games are there to help build a student’s responsibil- entertainment. ity and work ethic skills rather than set them up for “I think about myself when I was a teenager, and failure. what I might have been spending my time doing if I If a website is really up for debate, it can surely be had full access to YouTube on a school’s computer,” requested to be either blocked or unblocked, but only assistant principal Matt Clodfelter said. “We do learn- by staff members. If you have any concerns or want to ing here—not pop culture, or any of those types of change the accessibility of something on the internet, things. We have to look at everything through that ask your teacher to email a request and give the name “We do learning here—not pop culture, or lense—whether it will contribute to learning or dete- of the desired website. But remember why we have the any of those types of things. We have to look riorate it.” system in the frst place before marking it off as un- at everything through that lense—whether it Besides the prospect of learning and making it reasonable. will contribute to learning or deteriorate it.” easier for students to concentrate on what they are “It would be a mess if we had an open flter,” Lile supposed to be doing in class, the process of website said. - Matt Clodfelter (above)