500 students at Rogers High School in Arkansas face disciplinary action after violating the school's computer use policy. The students, who all used a proxy to bypass the school's filtering system and firewalls will lose their computer privileges and have in-school suspension.
The Morning News reported that administrators discovered the problem only this week. They said students were using the proxy to access Facebook and MySpace pages. Students said they knew that some were using the proxy to access research sites for anatomy class.
The filter, required by law and supplied by the Arkansas Department of Information Systems also blocks sites like CNN, and TeacherTube, a website that allows teachers to share instructional videos. Principal Bill Stringer is also frustrated by the over blocking. He can't access administrative sites needed for compiling reports from his school computer.
Filters do not work. They over block or under block. Clearly they are easily circumvented. Additionally, they are frustrating to many, including students and schools, who want legitimate protection from unwanted material like pornography, but do not want to be blocked from research sites. Why not categorize and zone content in such a way that users can choose exactly what type of material they do or do not want to have?
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