While school officials say the decision is based on the district’s requirements for safety on the Web, students say that not having their personal e-mail available is inconvenient.
By: Rebecca Weltmann
A new Internet security program was put in place two weeks ago which blocks students’ access to e-mail in schools, but students say blocking e-mail keeps them from easily accessing homework and other files needed for school.
The new filtering system requires students to log in, and according to District Technology Supervisor Joel Handler, the system has different levels of permission depending on who is logging in.
Much to many students’ dismay, among the sites blocked now are personal e-mails.
"The new security filter is designed to gear different content toward whoever is logged in," Mr. Handler said. "In the lower grades, the system would obviously filter out more questionable content than in the upper grades. By filtering out e-mail for students, we’re basically following the same policy that the district has for use of cell phones in schools.
"It’s a distraction, and it came at the request of teachers and the administration who didn’t feel a need for students to have access to e-mail during the school day," he said.
In addition to students being affected by the new filtering system, he said, teachers also do not have access to their personal e-mails. He said the reason for this is because the majority of teachers use their district e-mails for professional reasons.
That district e-mail, he added, would obviously stay off the blocked list.
"It’s not really a policy, just a districtwide decision," Mr. Handler said. "The only students that have really voiced complaints are high school students. The other grades really don’t utilize e-mail. The idea behind this, though, is that it’s helping us to provide a more safe and secure environment for our students."
In addition, he said, the state mandates schools to have filters for Internet content. Without filters, schools could risk losing federal grants, such as E-rate, the federal grant for technology for schools and libraries.
While Mr. Handler said the decision is based on the district’s requirements for safety on the Web, students say that not having their personal e-mail available is inconvenient.
"Over the past few years, students have seen the Hillsborough High School network’s filters become more restrictive, as sites such as MySpace, Livejournal and Facebook became inaccessible, slowly but surely," Nina Jankowicz, a student at Hillsborough High School, said in an e-mail. "However, even the most MySpace-addicted HHS student will be logical enough to admit that school probably is not the time to be checking such a Web site. E-mail, on the other hand, does not serve as a distraction during class, and is actually an extremely useful tool that is heavily relied on by students and teachers alike."
Nina added that many students use e-mail to send themselves work, such as homework, essays, PowerPoint presentations and other files needed for their school day.
While she said it is inconvenient to not allow such access, Mr. Handler said students can easily find other ways to get their work to school.
"Students can use jump drives and we have a remote file transfer for students that has been accessible for the last three years so students can have access to home folders," he said. "Any class drives that might be used by teachers, such as Moodle, our online course system, can also help students get their work to school."
Most of the high school students aren’t satisfied with this answer, though, as they have been putting up posters searching for "Missing E-mail" and sending around petitions to revive their e-mail accessibility.
"Due to the sudden nature of the HHS administration’s acts, which came without any warning, the entire school is frustrated, students and faculty alike," Nina said. "Until the district provides ways to circumvent the school’s reliance on e-mail, it must be accessible, as it allows the HHS family to do their jobs more effectively."