Filters in the schools

I created a website for my class using Google Pages. To my surprise, it was being blocked by the district filters! It took many days and emails to get my academic page unblocked. Such a waste of time.

But, in the end, filters in schools are needed I think. I remember in University when students would be looking at pornography in the computer labs. I was an adult so I didn't really care, but children still have some innocence. The media may try to spin it otherwise, but I see it on a daily basis. Kids are still kids. My 14 year old students talk about Spongebob quite a bit.

Students will try to use proxies and sometimes they'll succeed. The filters will adjust accordingly and it's an ongoing battle. But at least a positive side-effect of filters is that it encourages young hackers to get around filters.

Here's another point of view: http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/filter-fun/

Should filters be less restrictive? Yes. Should they be there? Yes.