You have taken measures to prevent your children from accessing objectionable content while they are in your care, but have you ever considered whether or not they are safe while using the internet at their respective schools or public libraries? Do schools filter out whatever they deem to be offensive on the internet? Is it OK for schools to prevent students from accessing any part of the internet? You must have pondered this at some point, but can you please explain the outcome of those that thought about it?
Why does my school filter anything that I try to access online?
A student's educational experience at a given institution should be tailored to their individual needs and should include exposure to a variety of instructional strategies and settings. However, the goal of the school is to educate children, keep them safe, and safeguard them from online stuff that is not appropriate, online predators, and a variety of other things.
It is extremely challenging for schools to protect students from being exposed to inappropriate or harmful content on the internet because of the abundance of inappropriate and dangerous websites available on the internet. However, if you have software like Mobilespy.io, this task will be much simpler.
Do you want to learn more about how to keep your home and school safe while using the internet? Let us jump in!
Why do schools filter out everything that's available on the internet?
When it comes to acquiring new knowledge, conducting research, communicating, and doing many other things, the Internet is absolutely necessary. The majority of schools today provide their pupils the opportunity to learn new skills and discover new horizons through the use of computers; however, this is not always the case.
Many students visit adult websites and sites that are improper for their age, which can result in them having less interest in their classes, having divided attention, being objectified, being encouraged to be violent, and many other negative outcomes.
In accordance with the American Association of School Librarians,
There are assertions that 98 percent of schools in the United States filter the online content that students have access to, which is a number that is considered to be an impressively high percentage.
Because teachers are not always present in the computer lab, and because they are unable to monitor each individual student's online activity, it is in everyone's best interest to implement several internet filters that prevent access to sites that contain adult material.
However, there is a discussion regarding whether or not schools are too protective, and whether or not this limits the research areas available to students. However, if the children are completely shielded from the myriad of dangers that might be encountered online, this is of little consequence.
For example, the vast majority of students conduct research on Google, but what if the Google SafeSearch feature is disabled? Google allows certain students, but not all of them, to access a variety of adult websites as well as movies and photographs that include explicit content.
A significant number of kids will be participating in this activity in some way, shape, or form. Therefore, schools need to implement Internet filtering strategies in order to restrict access to certain websites.
Therefore, the only solution is to employ Internet blocking strategies.
A huge NO! The pupils should be taught in the schools how to properly use the internet, as well as what they should watch and what they should avoid watching.
In addition, the school ought to collaborate with the parents regarding these issues. In addition, parents should educate their children proper internet etiquette at home so that their children will be able to choose for themselves as adults what is and is not acceptable behavior.
A number of years ago, there was no debate regarding the websites that should be allowed in schools and those that should not be allowed. Instead, everyone's main concern was making sure that pupils were able to read the assigned materials.
Because an increasing number of students have access to the internet and cellphones, screening content on the internet has developed into a serious concern in recent years.
In a paper titled "Project Tomorrow 2018," it was stated that
Ninety-one percent of students enrolled in high school and seventy-nine percent of those enrolled in secondary school own smartphones.
57% of children in primary school have access to a laptop computer, and 50% of students have their own smartphone.
Sixty-eight percent of the student body reported that they routinely have access to electronic devices while they are in school.
These numbers are just going to keep climbing as time goes on, and eventually, all schools will eliminate the need for paper and replace it with full-time usage of technology in the classroom.
How Internet Filters Keep Students Safe Online?
However, this does not mean keeping kids secure only when they are online at school; rather, it means keeping students safe when they are online in general. The protection of students should be the first priority for educational institutions.
In addition, we wish to protect our children from the numerous dangers that may be found on social networking sites, such as inappropriate content, strangers on the internet, and other similar threats.
Parents' problem
As a parent, you could find yourself asking a lot of questions, such as "Do we want our children to be exposed to adult content?" Do we want our children to engage in conversation with total strangers and put themselves in danger from online predators? Do the firewalls at schools prevent pupils from accessing sites that are inappropriate or harmful?
These are some of the real concerns that ought to be taken into consideration by the administrations of the various school systems.
Students' morals and values
One last thing to think about is whether or not we can guarantee that students will act in an ethical manner when using social media. Sexting, hacking into networks, stealing passwords, creating phony accounts, and other illegal acts are among the inappropriate and illegal things that some adolescents nowadays do on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
In addition, these activities may result in in-school suspensions, expulsions, as well as criminal prosecutions being brought against the student. Instead of devoting their whole attention and resources to academics and the overall mission of the school, today's schools spend a significant amount of time addressing the various challenges posed by social media.
In what ways might technology be helpful?
Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and more teachers are beginning to incorporate it into their lessons. Because of this, devoting even more time and energy to educational pursuits is becoming an even higher priority. It is an excellent first step in finding a solution to the problem to educate children and teenagers about the advantages and disadvantages of using social media, the dangers and threats that may be found online, and other concerns.
Students' use of the internet, instances of cyberbullying, and any other activity they engage in online deserve the full attention of schools. Schools are able to have full faith that their pupils will remain secure if the established protocols and guidelines are followed to the letter.
Why Should Parents Limit Their Children's Internet Access at Home?
At home, users get access to all of the websites on the Internet that are blocked at schools. Blocking websites at home is therefore very important because the responsibility for the protection and upbringing of children should lie primarily with the parents and not solely with the schools.
The use of a parental control software that is provided by a third party can be helpful to both parents and schools in maintaining order among the student body. These applications not only block access to specific websites, but they also have a variety of other applications.
It gives you the ability to block websites and applications on the internet that you believe are inappropriate for your children or applications on which your child spends an excessive amount of time, track their multimedia files, view the people with whom they are communicating, spy on their social media platforms, track their location, and do a great deal more besides.
Conclusion
It is of the utmost importance that we protect our children from the dangers of the internet, such as adult content and other inappropriate material, yet doing so can be complicated and challenging.
Therefore, it is important for not only parents but also schools to educate pupils about the benefits and drawbacks of using the internet. They should educate students about things like internet scams and predators, cyberbullying, and other issues that can be dangerous to young people.
In addition, the efforts made by the schools to ban access to these improper websites should be successful and should not restrict the students' ability to seek for relevant information.
When children are young, it is the responsibility of their parents to direct them in the appropriate direction. They will have the ability to make their own choices when they are adults because this will have occurred.
