Web Filters In High Schools

At Hesperia High school and many other schools across the country students have been given chromebooks, ipads, and tablets to enhance their learning experience. However, along with the new technology there are also new restrictions. Many websites are blocked and unavailable to the students. How can high school students learn efficiently, expect to become mature, and use their time adequately if schools continue to block an excessive amount of sites? Web filters in high schools are too restrictive and as a result the new technology given to students is not helping. As mentioned before, students are not able to learn efficiently with all of the internet filters. Youtube has many educational videos on various subjects, however in most schools
it is blocked. Channels such as Khan Academy for math, Crash Course for science, and the History Channel are blocked because they are apart of Youtube. Students are not able to access the internet to its full educational potential. The internet is full of informational websites and blogs that are not being seen by students. Students are being suppressed by the limited amount of websites available. This is detrimental to students learning because they are not able to acquire all of the possible resources. Not only does restricting websites suppress students, it also produces a contradiction. High school students are expected to be mature and act like adults, and yet the students are being excessively limited. Now and days, high school teachers assign more sophisticated topics of research such as abortion, sex, and drugs. However, students are not able to access this appropriate information because of filters. Teachers want their students to research more in depth topics, so that the students continue to grow. Students cannot mature if they are not given the adequate amount of experience and information.