Internet+Censorship

Schools that receive certain funding are required through CIPA, which was signed into law in 2000, to install a filtering software on all computers. There have been many lawsuits brought against institutions stating that that the First Amendment rights of patrons were being violated. In 2013, a school district in Rhode Island had an internet filtering system that kept teachers and students from searching or looking at certain sites. The ACLU argued that although the filtering system was designed to block sites from pornography, it was blocking many other important sites that were needed by teachers and students. Some of the sites that were blocked include: the Smithsonian, Goodreads.com, a YouTube video on social security, a bully video clip on the PBS Kids site, and a global warming site. I have taught for 14 years in a Title 1 district and understand the need to protect the students from viewing sexually explicit material. Having said that, I also know how important it is to disable those filters if needed. There are so many resources that are available to teachers and should be accessible without being stopped by a filtering system. This is the first year in my teaching profession that I am able to access certain blogs, YouTube, and Pinterest at school. I use the blogs to find new techniques to use in my classroom and the videos on YouTube to teach certain skills. Both of these are huge assets to my classroom. I would recommend any institution that is being funded for the internet to check with their council and make sure that the filtering software that is installed can be disabled by teachers or staff members if needed, especially since there are countless lawsuits being brought about from people who have been denied access to religious sites and other sites addressing issues in today’s society.

Written and posted by Stephanie Hawkins on April 20, 2016