|
Pros |
Cons |
|
Filters prevent access to
pornography, hate speech, graphic violence, criminal activity, some health
issues, alcohol, and other inappropriate topic websites. |
Filters do not allow students to
use their own judgments in determining what sites are appropriate, thus
limiting their intellectual freedom- First Amendment rights. . |
|
Filters can be customized to
block a high or low level of sites. Filters
can be adjusted to your needs- filter by keyword, category or by URL address. |
Filters set at high restrictive
levels prevent student access to many important sites, especially health
sites. |
|
Filtering is similar to
censoring certain books from the library.
|
Filters don’t work
effectively. The filters can not keep
up with the growing number of websites and the techniques companies use to
circumvent the filters. |
|
Many filtering companies give
adults a password to be able to override the filter if they feel a specific
site is appropriate. |
Many filtering software
companies will not provide a list of blocked websites so that librarians/
teachers can preview the list to determine if their filters are set
appropriately to their standards. |
|
Access to inappropriate websites
may desensitize students. |
Filtering software can give a
false sense of security to parents and teachers. Students need supervision when accessing
the internet. |
Teaching students how to research
on the internet is an extension of teaching research skills using text
materials. Teachers need to provide
modeling and guided instruction using the internet before students work
independently. Consider these guidelines
for using the internet:
Primary grades (PK-3) should not
have free access to the internet. All
sites should be accessed through specific links provided by the classroom
teachers and school media specialists.
All sites should be prescreened.
Intermediate grades (4-6) should have
guided searches of the internet for specific topics using specific kid-safe
search engines, such as Yahoooligans. Concept keywords and/or categories should be
preselected.
Middle school grades (7-8) should be
able to independently access the internet using their own keywords, through
specific search kid-safe search engines and be taught how to evaluate a
website.
High school grades (9-12) should
have more freedom when accessing the internet