Beyond Censorware: Teaching Web Literacy

Well, having been in charge of computers labs in schools (private school) for the last 13 years, there are a few things I can add to the conversation. First, let it be said that filters work to block the only standard kid surfing. Trust me when I say most kids know 2 ways around most systems. IF they wanna get there, they will. Filter systems are really problematic for teachers having kid’s research serious issues such as AIDS, gambling, weapons, etc. We see lots of blocking related to images, not because the images are bad, but because they site they are pulled from is unknown or unmonitored. Sometimes the filter will just block something which makes no sense, maybe an ESPN highlight. So, as far as filter being the save-all, they are not.
Now, on the other hand, the answer is probably not to just open up the filter wide open. In school environments, where you have kids of all ages, from all backgrounds, all walks of life, and all levels of tolerance......there is a lot of room for problems.  Without question, the herd mentality takes over in labs when someone stumbles on something cool or amazing...be it an image, story, headline, video, or advertisement. The lab can quickly go from a place of work and learning to chaos. With kids who are lower and middle school age, the accidental click is more likely. Even with our system, we've had some surprises. And what school wants to get barraged with phone calls from angry parents because their daughter saw Suzy looking at one of those "special" sites? If schools are doing their jobs, then while students are at school, their desire to explore and learn and be curious should be great, so complete freedom to explore an Internet where there is as much bad as there is good....is probably not the answer either.

Ok, this is not a cop-out, but I propose that the solution is not an either-or one. Neither really solves the problem. I think some kind of filtering system (but not cranked all the way up) along with a professional sense of keeping track of what's going on in the lab (i.e. don't leave 30 kids alone for 30 minutes in a lab with no supervision) is the key. Up front, communicate your schools policy towards using the Internet while at school, letting the students see that you are in fact aware of what’s going on, but also being sensitive to their needs (i.e. allow more access for students doing project for the human biology class or WW2 Nazi report). There are ways to find a balance that allows there to be some trust building which goes on as well: There are ways to setup a good filter system which allows "pass throughs" which means yeah, you can visit this site, but the fact that you visited it is noted by the system with your userid (should we ever need that knowledge). That way there is some sense of growing up and having control of your experience, but also awareness that it is not complete freedom and that the school is still there helping you find our way.

I have never been one for Either Or solution. Those never work.

TechnoBabbler, when you say:

Web filtering tools need to be properly implemented for them to be effective, a tiered level of security can be used to give some people(teachers) unfettered access through the web filtering tools, while others(students) are more restricted.

All I can say, is, "Good luck!" Implementing this kind of system could open a can of worms that no school board wants to deal with; further, many schools simply aren't staffed to set this up, let alone pay for the licensing for a sophisticated product.

I understand the need for some kinds of filtering; the fact is, I agree with Cory that kids get around it all the time. The filter has to be installed in the human being, and only a course of study that encourages that will be truly effective in the long run.

I both agree and disagree with you on this topic. The real trouble is that there is a middle ground that needs to be found in order to keep everyone happy, but that middle ground is the hard part. My response is only in regards to a schools, a public library is a completely different animal which is far more complicated.

As far as censorware as you call it, I don't really find that to be an accurate term to use for what you are talking about. The word censor always makes people jump up and say "Hey, that's wrong". The use of the word censor is misleading, which I have a feeling is your goal with this article. A censor is a person who scans informational content and removes or suppresses that source from sharing the information or the action of that person doing the same thing. Web filtering software you talk about isn't trying to prevent that information from being shared, it's just saying "not here", we own this internet connection for a specific purpose and these topics have nothing to do with that purpose. If they want to access that information, they are free to do so on their own time, on their own computer, on their own connection to the internet.

The purpose of a school is teach, with minimal distractions being the best way to do so. The use of web filtering software and hardware is meant to reduce distractions by limiting the amount of inappropriate content from being seen by the people it is deemed inappropriate to.

Yes, of course there are the questions of who has the right to deem what inappropriate, but as a society we have already defined that. Pornography is not to be viewed by anyone under the age of 18, and child pornography is illegal to everyone. Illegally pirated software shouldn't be accessed by anyone, it's illegal.

Another aspect is security, by locking down a computer and restricting some places where a student can access, the schools are taking appropriate security precautions by blocking porn sites as well as Warez sites which are known to have malicious code and viruses as part of their sites.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with these actions. Schools should not be a place where students(minors) are allowed access to break the law because of the schools inaction on taking a reasonable precaution to prevent them from breaking the law. Drugs aren't allowed in school, I see no reason why pornography or illegal software should be ignored, kids are in school to learn, not for recreation.

Yes, this software does sometimes block content that can be used for educational purposes, but it doesn't block all the pages. For every page blocked, I am sure there are another dozen pages out there which have the same information which is likely not blocked. That is one of the beauties of the internet, there is more than one source for information. If there are no others, then there are steps that can be taken to gain access.

What the real problem here is not the use of web filtering software and hardware, it's the ineffective implementation of this hardware by people who either don't understand it or what it is supposed to do. The process of using such software and hardware is an interactive process which is far to often only a one sided process with no flexibility.

Web filtering tools need to be properly implemented for them to be effective, a tiered level of security can be used to give some people(teachers) unfettered access through the web filtering tools, while others(students) are more restricted.This would be similar to any access to network resources, students and teachers don't have equal access, neither do teachers and management/administration in school. This is no different from the real world in business where different departments and people are given different levels of permission on those networks. This is a security issue that should be handled, but it rarely is. Far too many schools just have open computers which have little to no security on them which allows anyone to access them with no username or password.

On top of the tiered implementation based on security permissions, a school should also have a system in place that allows for exceptions to be made. When a teacher finds a site that they know will help students, then an exception can be put into the web filtering tool to ignore it. The same for sites that are not filtered that offer no benefit should be allowed to have an exception put in to block it.

It's not what they do, it's how they do it that's the problem with web filtering.

Yes, kids will find ways around things sometimes, but just because a few kids will find their way around it doesn't mean you shouldn't even try to make an attempt at some prevention. Some 13 year olds will find a way to get and drink beer, that doesn't mean we need to change the laws and get rid of the drinking age just because some kids will find a way around it.

One point that I don't want you to think is overlooked is this one:

"Worst of all, censorware teaches kids that the normal course of online life involves being spied upon for every click, tweet, email, and IM."

Why is that such a bad thing to teach someone? That's reality, whether done by the company you work for, or an unscrupulous hacker. Everyone should assume that everything they write can be seen by someone else, possibly someone they don't want it to be seen by. As many discussions here have covered, nothing should truly be considered private on the internet, by it's very design the internet isn't private, it wasn't meant to be either. If you want something to be kept private, then don't publish it to the internet somewhere and actively keep it private.

Personally, I think the combination of all the above things is doing more to teach kids web literacy, as well as some common sense like:

- At home you can do what you want, but at school or work you need to concentrate on the task at hand, not distractions and recreation.

- You come across something that is blocked, learn why, understand the reasons.

- Not everything is appropriate in all situations and places.

- Conflict resolution, how to determine what is necessary for you to get a job done, and how to get access to what you actually need to get that job done.

Don't get me wrong, I am all about web freedom and a person's right to read what they want to and access what they want to, but those are "rights and freedoms" that you have in your home, on your computer, through a private ISP connection. This is not the government controlling what you can access on the internet from your own personal connection to the internet, nor is this about an ISP filtering access. Those are completely different topics all together.

Pardon the length of this response, I just kinda went into things and didn't realize til I was done the longwindedness of what I have written.

I think a large amount of censorware problem boils down to what you said, lack of research. I mean, if the faculty/administration isn't researching censorware before just slapping it on, then the students will obviously not learn how to research anything and just assume that it's the proper thing to do.

Another entertaining, thought-provoking post, Cory. I'm forwarding the URL of this story to every teacher I know. It's high time boards of education across the country (world) had a smart, serious conversation about how Internet use in the classroom is stymied by stupidity and naivete.