#high school newspaper

[anonymousfoz]

HS Journalism: District Blocking Sites (News)

Note: Some things have to be censored to post it here. If you see a lot of dashes, that is why

Morality. Safety. Student engagement in classes. Some legitimate reasons for blocking websites at schools do exist. However, monetary gain for the school district is behind some censorship that affects both students and teachers–despite educational use of the internet.

School districts and public libraries across the nation have been blocking sites for 22 years. According to the American Association of School Librarians, 98% of the nation’s school districts and public libraries filter the online content that is available to minors. But why? And is blocking sites occurring in truly beneficial ways?

Background

To create a safe environment for students while keeping them focused and off inappropriate sites, Congress passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act on Dec. 15, 2000, and it went into effect on April 20, 2001. CIPA requires that public libraries and certain school districts that have students from kindergarten to twelfth grade use internet filters and other measures to protect students from harmful and obscene content in order to obtain certain federal funding.

The Supreme Court has stated that libraries can unblock the filters for adults who request them. The decision was seen as a major defeat for all libraries in the U.S. and for those who had to use the library internet due to no access at home. The ruling also led to concerns about how CIPA would work in schools and the censorship in that setting.

The Debate

The CIPA law sparked debate over censorship in schools, and with the recent rise of book banning in schools, people have returned to this debate. Two sides emerged with various viewpoints on CIPA and blocking sites. One side agrees to the blocking of sites and wants to enforce more restrictions, and another side opposes district blocking sites and has its various solutions to the conflict. Both sides agree that certain sites with sexual content should be blocked, but that is where the agreement stops.

From opposing broad filters and blocking social media sites to wanting realistic barriers that allow children to form their own ideas, even those who oppose blocking sites don’t agree on solutions to what might be considered “inappropriate” content. The opposing side wants to make educational institutions responsible for online content available to students with more responsibility for decisions being left up to the older students.

“Students already know how to get around the firewall by using their phones as hotspots or going to gaming websites that our filter doesn’t catch,” one teacher said.

Students also bypass the firewall by using virtual private networks or VPNs. The gaming sites that filters don’t catch are typically built using Google Sites, Weebly, or even LinkedIn. Games can be found on Scratch that students can access during class. While the district tries to solve these issues, some in this debate demand parents block sites on their children’s personal devices.

This debate is mainly between parents wanting to protect children versus experiences that occur in the classroom with students and teachers dealing with the frustrating situations caused by their school district’s filters.

In the Classroom

While all districts follow CIPA, each district has its policies which can cause interruption in the classroom. A teacher may have a legitimate assignment ruined by a site being blocked.

The survey and poll sent out to all teachers at Nation Ford showed that of 24 teachers, 17 said they had a legitimate site blocked—either their own sites or another site they were using for educational purposes related to course content. Seven teachers had YouTube blocked for class use or assignments. Three teachers had their websites blocked, which held important information for students and parents.

“My own educational website, which I created for my students that I use with instruction was blocked for a year before I finally got access to it at school again,” a teacher said. “I couldn’t send students to the website for enrichment or anything.”

Of course, some blocked websites are needed. One teacher stated that Pinterest was blocked from students who were using it to look at marketing research. Another talked about Adobe Creative Cloud’s AI features being blocked from students, which would have enhanced creativity in the classroom. Most teachers stated they were frustrated with their experience, some mentioning that due to a helpful site with resources being blocked, they were required to work at home.

Despite these experiences, most teachers agreed that some websites needed to be blocked.

“I like the intention, but it causes some unnecessary issues for students and teachers,” one teacher said.

Another teacher said, “I think our system is behind the times. Teachers should be able to approve certain websites for class use on an individual basis.”

The reasoning behind --SD’s blocking of sites is not well understood.

“In some cases, that [blocking sites] is necessary for students’ health and safety,” another teacher said. “I’d be interested to know how the district is deciding these matters, however, because there are times legitimate and educational sites are blocked, which is frustrating.”

The District Policy

The district policy is mentioned in the IJNDB “Use of Technology Resources by Students,” and according to the document, the district is to provide students with access to electronic and technological resources to help them in school. The district has the right to monitor students’ online activities and restrict access to certain websites they deem inappropriate for academic purposes. The --SD system is not perfect, but it is truly impossible to monitor every student and block all the correct sites. The document also states that anyone using the district network, a district-owned device, or holding a district account should not expect privacy given for anything downloaded, transmitted, or received as the district has access to view that information and search account history. The district also notes that they have the right to change their policy at any given time.

--SD’s Chief Communications Officer, ---- Burke, understands the main issue in this debate.

“In general, if a site is blocked and has educational value to a class, the teacher can work with their administration and the IT Department at the District Office to request the site be unblocked,” Burke said. “The district administration will make the determination depending on the site’s content and compliance with policy IJNDB.”

The district has the final say on whether a site will be unblocked based on the content and what they see as educational value to the class. In classes such as Digital Art & Design or Marketing, the district administration could fail to understand the educational value a site could provide. A year is a long time to wait, teachers say.

Possible Solution

Teachers say they can already see students’ screens with such sites as Netop Vision. While this gives the teacher a lot of control over electronic use, it could ensure students stay on task. Teachers say they know what their class needs. This way, the district can continue broad filtering sites while giving teachers control in the classroom.

[jhsharman]

Scoop Dupe

There are at least a couple of female groopies.

A tad interesting on the band:

The strawberry blonde woman with hair past her shoulders appears to be wearing two different shirts. We are introduced to an orange haired woman in the fourth panel who has a different shirt in the fifth panel. And are there five members of the band? Or maybe just four and the lady in the last panel is the press agent?

[wonder-never-wander]

newspaper is so fun!!! you should join newspaper

[acelessthan3]

Emerald Ridge High School 2006-2007

JagWire Newsmagazine: the covers

Posted for archival purposes

[mamawasatesttube]

it's like, i really do enjoy most of the bats as characters and i really do like a lot of their comics. but also i am sooooo tired of them being hailed as better than literally everyone else. both in fanon but also in comics (modern ones are esp egregious imo, like WHAT was that shit about batman and the joker being the most dangerous men on the planet. hi. have you heard of lanterns? speedsters? supers? actually if i keep listing groups who could kick batman's ass we'd be here all day). they're like kudzu. that shit needs to stay in its native environment (funky little neo-noir detective stories) and stop being an invasive species (putting down everyone else to make them seem cooler). put bruce wayne back into a murder mystery setting that isn't about saving the world but is about saving one person or one family that no one else would've saved right now or so help me god. the whole invasive species cross contamination thing is unhealthy for both him And the other ecosystems he keeps getting transplanted into. please. it's so dark in here

[the-binding-blade]

the black knight

[libraryofva]

Recent Acquisition - Photograph Collection

Here's the way the new brick $60,000 high school at Bloxom will look. May 1931 Emma Littleton Photograph Album

[joyful-patient-faithful]

Local libraries getting rid of physical medias such as newspapers, magazines, cds, dvds, and audiobooks is turning experiencing art into a privilege instead of a right but I don't think you guys are ready for that conversation

[mccoys-killer-queen]

my turn to illustrate @incorrect-styx

[anonymousfoz]

Autism be damned, yo boi can write

Now that I have your attention.

For the past semester I been in journalism, writing stories for my high school newspaper. I have decided that I am going to post every single piece I have written from my junior year in intro to journalism and my senior year of being a reporter for the newspaper officially.

Some of you have already seen some of the writing. I will tag it under

high school newspaper, journalism, writing, And my writing

This will give insight into my school, movies, and songs I reviewed and how American school systems work (slightly)

I will post the most recent that is currently done and start censoring people's names.

I will post one soon after this at 6 pm est with why American schools block websites at school.

The answer will surprise a lot of my non-American readers & moots.

It will most likely be my last writing of the year.

[jhsharman]

paper caper

Don't need that comma.

There is (or rather, was) a recurring item in Archie Comics, generally shelved to one and half page gags, this "gossip column". The high school newspaper at Riverdale High has a gossip column. Which is a concept that is absurd.

[trunkards]

Trunkards #643. Let freedom ring!

© 2024 Rick Hutchins

[frommybedroom]

real things the people in my newspaper class said

“don’t put your dog dick on my saxophone”

“i’m not going to use geometry, it’s fucking mini-golf”

“you do have a twinkish voice. you look like you moan like a girl”

“i like a man in theory, but not in practice”

frantic boy who got a very sudden, very intense nose bleed, bled all over the desk, shoved two tissues up his nose, and moved the trash can so that it sat in the middle of the table: “i’ll sanitize the desk!!!”

editor: “[name], what are you working on?” boy: “my self worth”

“he looks like his dad’s a lawyer”

“failing pre-calc is hot girl shit”

[the0nlyallison]

Part two of my newspaper article is coming out today

[bitchboynasty]

This is deeply stupid even if it was an article about some shit that mattered but just for context this lame ass little thing popped up after I read an article about “the best George santos quotes from his time in congress”

[deadpanwalking]

As an ESL, I'm having problems comprehending poetic meter. I was never taught about the stresses in English and when I read a poem out loud I am never sure if I got the stresses right. Do you have any advice on mastering this?

I learned by listening to English language poetry being read aloud while having the poem in front of me so I could follow along; the cadence helped me pick up on the stresses and anticipate where they'd fall next—nothing fancy, just good old-fashioned pattern recognition.