Pros and Cons of School Web Filtering

School web filtering can be a sensitive topic amongst teachers and students. It is one that many educators feel strongly about on both sides – whether or not to use it. This guide was to discuss both the pros and cons of allowing web filtering in a school setting.

With the rapid increase in internet usage among children, schools are starting to implement web filters to block out content which is known to be inappropriate for children.

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School web filtering is a topic that often generates passionate debate. On one hand, filters help to improve cyber security, protect students from pornographic images, and shield them from radical propaganda. 

On the other hand, they can stifle creativity and prevent students from accessing vital information. It is also a slippery slope because it is easy to censor too much with no clear guidelines on what students should be exposed to and not exposed to. It creates an environment of fear because teachers don’t feel comfortable providing students with controversial material or letting them go down a research path that is not put forth by the school or the government directly.

Some see this as an infringement on the freedom of their children to study what and when they want.

• Limited Bandwidth
• Cost Concerns
• No Compliance With CIPA and Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
• Compromised Security
• Bypassing Potential Issues Via VPN
• Extra Work For The IT Department
• Pro: School web filtering prevents students from visiting time-wasting sites.
• Pro: With school web filtering, access to inappropriate material is limited.
• Pro: Web filters help protect the network.
• Pro: Web filters can prevent kids from inadvertently stumbling into other dangerous sites.
• Con: School web filters can block trusted sites and services.
• Con: Filtering can prevent kids (and teachers) from doing meaningful work.
• Con: Filters limit educational opportunities and don’t teach critical thinking skills.
• Con: Some school web filter software is overly expensive and burdensome to maintain.
• You should consider the pros and cons of using a school web filter to determine if the benefits outweigh the shortcomings of your existing system.
• There are some limitations of school web filtering but the pros outweigh the cons.

When we think of school web filtering, we often think of students who are trying to access inappropriate websites—pornography, violence, hate speech, etc. We forget that web filters serve an important purpose for teachers, too—they can block instructional materials the school might not want students to have access to. 

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For example, teachers often use online textbooks from various publishers; some of these textbooks are available for free online, but there are also publishers that don’t allow schools to provide their textbooks for free. The publishers that do allow it generally only permit schools to make the material available if they’re supplied with a username and password that only the teacher has.

Without it, students can’t access the textbook. With it, they can access it whenever they want during or after school hours. Without a filter, teachers can’t control what their students are reading; with one in place, they can control what they and their students are exposed to.

Schools are using more and more web filtering software to help keep their students from accessing inappropriate material. These programs generally block access to a variety of sites that they deem inappropriate, including pornography sites, chat rooms, and social networking sites. While this is a very helpful tool for schools and teachers, there are some potential drawbacks to this type of software that educators should be aware of.

School web filtering is most effective when the school already has a well-established filter system in place. It can be very difficult for schools to roll out a new program without proper preparation, especially if they have a lot of computers or kids on laptops that they want to be able to keep track of what sites they’re visiting. 

Some teachers may find it easier to just ban electronics from their classroom than it would be to install a new system. Another problem with implementing such a system is that some teachers may not like being told what websites they can and cannot allow their students to visit; this could lead to frustration for both the teacher and the student.

Pros of School Web Filtering

By blocking harmful websites, schools can help keep kids safe while they’re using the computer lab or surfing the Internet in their classrooms. The pros of school web filtering include:

While there are many benefits to using web filtering software in schools, there are also some drawbacks. The following are some of the pros and cons of school web filtering:

Helps keep students productive. 

When students have access to what they want online, they may spend more time goofing off and less time working on their studies. With web filtering software in place, teachers can block websites that distract students from completing their work and make sure that they stay focused on their lessons.

Because students won’t have access to distracting websites or social media sites while they are in class, they will be able to stay focused on their work and complete assignments quickly with minimal errors.

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This means that teachers won’t have to spend as much time checking over student work or reviewing material that hasn’t been absorbed by students because they weren’t paying attention during class time due to outside distractions caused by inappropriate websites or social media sites being accessible from school computers or tablets used during class time.

Helps keep children safe online. 

Many children use the internet as a source of entertainment and education, but some of these sites contain material that isn’t suitable for children or that could be dangerous in other ways. For example, some websites contain inappropriate content or images, while others contain malware or viruses that could harm your computer if you click on them.

Using school web filtering software helps ensure that students don’t come into contact with these dangerous sites or get tricked into visiting them by someone else at home who doesn’t know about their presence on the web.

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Helps keep teachers safe from liability. 

When children aren’t using school web filtering software and end up visiting an inappropriate site, it’s possible that teachers could face legal consequences.

Security. 

Web filtering is essential for keeping students safe from viruses, malware and other threats that can be found on the internet. A good filter will automatically block bad sites and even warn you when your child visits them. This helps to prevent viruses from infecting your computer or phone, which can result in data loss or even identity theft.

Helps Protect Students from Online Threats

Web filters can block access to inappropriate content, including pornography, gambling sites and more. They also help prevent students from downloading malware or spyware that could compromise their computers or data. Schools that use Internet filtering software have fewer incidents involving cyber bullying and other online threats.

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Helps Protect Student Privacy

Another benefit of using web filters is that they protect student privacy by blocking social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter where students often share personal information about themselves, their friends and family members.

With this type of software in place, teachers can focus on teaching their lessons without worrying about what their students are doing at home on the computer after school hours or on weekends when they’re supposed to be studying!

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Limits access to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter

Preventing students from accessing inappropriate content online can be beneficial to both teachers and students alike. Some social media sites contain offensive material that is not appropriate for children or teens to view.

A school web filter can block these sites by blocking access to them via internet browsers on school computers. By blocking these websites, the school is able to protect its students from seeing material that could potentially harm them physically or emotionally.

Cons of School Web Filtering

The pros of school web filtering are obvious — it helps protect students from inappropriate content and protects the school district from liability.

However, there are also some cons to school web filtering.

The biggest potential con of school web filtering is that it can cause students to miss out on important information that could help them in the classroom or at home. For example, if a student is researching a topic for a paper or project, they may not be able to find everything they need by searching through filtered sites only.

Web filters can be a double-edged sword. 

On one hand, they provide an invaluable service in protecting students and teachers from inappropriate web content. On the other hand, they can also block out valuable, educational resources. Here are some of the most common cons of school web filtering:

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Another problem with school web filtering is that it can sometimes block legitimate sites or pages that are related to a topic that students are researching on their own time and in their own way. When this happens (and it does happen), students will often complain about the blockage, which can cause problems for teachers who have to explain why certain things have been blocked out of their classrooms when they should be available for educational purposes.

There are also some technical issues with school web filtering, such as when you have multiple systems running different types of software. Sometimes these systems conflict with each other, which can lead to blocks being placed on legitimate sites or pages due to one system blocking something that another system has allowed through.

Blocking important content: 

If a website is blocked because it contains potentially inappropriate material, then teachers and students may not be able to access it. This could include sites that contain information about safe sex practices or pregnancy prevention; resources on bullying or suicide prevention; or even websites with age-appropriate content for students who have special needs.

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Loss of productivity: 

When students cannot access certain websites during class time, they will inevitably spend more time looking for workarounds than completing their homework assignments. This can significantly impact student performance by wasting both student and teacher time.

Discouraging student autonomy and decision-making –

The main con is that many students feel that they are losing control over their own lives. They feel like they can’t make their own decisions about what sites to visit and what information to access. They also believe that this type of filtering is unfair because it does not allow them to choose what they want to look at.

Stifling creativity and exploration –

Some students feel that the filter makes it impossible for them to explore ideas or topics in any depth, which can lead to their creative abilities being stifled. A lot of this frustration comes from the fact that students have no input into the content of their education, which means they don’t have any say in how they’re taught or what they’re taught about.

The Cost of Using Web Filtering Software Is High

Schools must pay a fee for each student to use the program and this can get expensive over time as enrollment increases or if they need additional licenses for new hardware such as laptops or tablets. Some software companies offer discounted prices for large purchases but may require a minimum number of licenses per year before they will offer this discount so it’s important to talk with your IT department about how much money they plan on spending.

Another disadvantage of using school web filtering software is that it can affect your network performance. This is especially true if you’re using an older model firewall or proxy server within your network infrastructure. If you don’t have adequate bandwidth capacity or high-quality hardware, then it might start to slow down your entire network connection. This can cause problems for everyone involved (including teachers and students).

Some thoughts from Parentaldaily Staff

School provides a vital service: providing students with an environment that is conducive to learning. In certain school districts, that mission has been expanded to include discipline, academic support, and other areas as well.

Fortunately, there are many web filtering technologies that provide schools with full control of their network environment, while ensuring administrative oversight and student privacy protection. Regardless if you are a school administrator or IT consultant, it pays to understand the pros and cons of different web filtering software products currently available.

There are in fact many benefits to implementing filtering software in schools. It is quite possible that the pros of school web filtering outnumber the cons. When used correctly, it can be an excellent tool for both the school and students.

While some people will stand up and argue for the benefits of web filtering, others will argue that it limits students’ freedom to surf the internet freely. Both sides have valid points, and while they are usually in a middle ground regarding their arguments, one thing is true above all else: Schools will continue to use web filtering software unless there is an overwhelming consensus that this practice is detrimental to students.

In Web filtering, there are many pros and cons. By using a web filter at school, it increases productivity, time management, provides a safe haven for students online. It helps the teachers by allowing them to see what students are doing online, by preventing them from going to sites that would waste time in class.

This can also be blocked on some computers at home if they do not want their children to go to certain sites that they do not need to see. Also more and more businesses are looking into blocking certain websites such as Facebook and Twitter to increase productivity and allow more work to get done after hours with out any distractions at all.

While web filtering can certainly be beneficial to students and teachers alike, it also poses problems and drawbacks. Filters are not perfect, for example; they can accidentally restrict access to non-offensive sites, or fail to block offensive content altogether if the filter is not updated regularly.

Parents might also object to filters on philosophical grounds, as they may inhibit their own children’s access to information in schools. Further, like any software, a filter must be maintained and updated. When the settings have been customised (as schools usually do), installing updates becomes time consuming when tests need to be conducted.

And if these tests are not conducted regularly, the effectiveness of the filter being used may deteriorate. Ultimately, it is up to individual schools and school districts to decide whether or not web filtering is right for them. This decision should always be based on an informed evaluation of both benefits and limitations related to this technology.

Refrences – https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/internet-filtering-hurts-kids/479907/