Internet Filters

With Internet filtering becoming a common thing in today’s schools, we must weigh the options of whether or not this method is beneficial for students:

Pros	Cons
Inappropriate sites are blocked. This prevents children from viewing and having access to these sites.	Filters are not 100% effective. Some inappropriate sites will still come through the filters.
Students will be able to search for materials based on their “safe” topics within kid friendly web sites.	Some sites that are not inappropriate may be blocked when unnecessary
Chat options, emailing and blogging are blocked. As a result, students are unable to engage in potentially dangerous conversations.	Not all chat, emailing, and blogging applications are blocked, depending on what software you are using.
Students will be kept away from any site that contains specific search words or images labeled with text like, “sex,” “pornography,” “drugs,” “alcohol,” and “gambling.”	Filters are, in some opinions, a violation of the first amendment law. Many people feel that children have the same rights and should make decisions about what is morally/socially acceptable for him/her to see or read.
Software programs automatically update themselves at set intervals – usually every 3-4 days.	New sites are added every day, and if software is not kept up to date, some sites are likely to get through the filters.

The teacher’s role:

As a teacher, it is important to closely monitor everything that students’ access on the Web. Just because a filter is in place, does not mean that everything deemed inappropriate or unethical is filtered away from the students. It is also important for a teacher to create an atmosphere in which students will understand their limitations in Internet usage and abide by those principals. It is also important for teachers to provide useful websites when at all possible, so as to prevent the searching through what may be inappropriate material. Such lists can be placed in a drop in assignment posted to the Internet.