Filtering Academic Freedom

To the Editor:

Over the past year at Newtown High School, the Bess Internet Filtering Service was installed on all computers students can access. Made by N2H2, Inc., this service blocks Internet sites that are not appropriate for a school environment. A major pitfall, though, is that numerous sites that contain valuable educational information are wrongfully blocked. The school’s Information Technology Department has done a good job allowing sites that are incorrectly blocked, but the process takes 24 hours.

Many times, a class will meet in a computer laboratory or the library in order to research a topic. On numerous occasions, I have been in classes where the majority of students become frustrated with this Internet filtering service and quickly loose interest in spending their time productively. I have thought to myself and out loud, that “I can do this ten times faster at home on my computer.” Frequently, clicking on a link takes students to a page that simply states “Bess can’t go there.” There is no way to read the information on the intended page. I have experienced this situation numerous times during a single class period. It feels as if a giant roadblock has been created to prevent you from learning about your topic. Even though it may not always be true, I always feel the pages I am trying to see contain the answers to my questions.

Philosophically, I don’t think that the Internet should be filtered at the high school level. Within a few years, the majority of these students will be at a college or university. With this change comes a great increase in students’ freedoms and responsibilities. Many times students will be able to access the Internet without supervision, for example, in their dorm room. At Newtown High School, we should be preparing our students for the real world, a place where Internet filtering is not the norm. I would be surprised if someone could name one national university that filtered their Internet. (Students would claim that their right to free speech was being violated.)

There are others ways available to prevent students from accessing inappropriate sites. In my opinion, our school should purchase software/hardware that would require a student to log on before they use the Internet. (Currently no authentication is necessary for using the IBM based computers.) A log could be generated that listed each student including the Web sites that he or she visited over the course of a given time period. If a student or group of students was found to be accessing inappropriate sites, they would have their login removed and would be allowed to use the computers with the exception of Internet privileges.

I believe that the school has every right to block access to sites on the Internet. They, in fact, did purchase the computers and do pay for the Internet service. However, I believe that the school’s main responsibility is to prepare students for the real world, and this is not being accomplished by filtering the Internet.

Sincerely,

Andrew D. Portnoy

14 Winding Brook Road, Newtown                                  June 4, 2001