The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” - Henry Steel Commager
Darien High School students have been complaining about the blocking of certain websites for years. This year, however, the cries have grown particularly raucous over what many view as indiscriminate and unnecessary Internet censorship. The change occurred because the district implemented a new Internet filtering appliance, which resulted in the tightening of content blocks.
While all of the same websites blocked in years past are still unavailable, the scope of the filtering has drastically increased, going beyond what many see as appropriate. For example, a Google search of "alcohol" is blocked, as are searches for "anarchy" and "terrorism". Oft-used websites such as amazon.com and dropbox.com are no longer available as well, popping up as prohibited “Shopping” websites. Some other categories that are blocked include “Web-based Storage” and “Music”, though these are more understandable considering both types of sites require huge bandwidth.
Students and teachers both make a mutual point: that most of the blocked sites are often used for educational purposes and blocking them serves to impede the learning process rather than enhance it. Sophomore Nicole Gagne said, “It’s annoying…there was a site that I needed to access for my work that was blocked.”
Junior J.T. Fucigna added, “Sites like Facebook can be used for educational purposes.” For example, teachers can use Facebook to pass assignments to students and create a forum for the class to share. Since nearly all students are already on the service, setting up a class page would take little effort and thoroughly enhance communication between students and teachers.
Even Community Council President Niya Wright said,
“It’s a bummer…some sites should definitely be unblocked.”
The tool used to enable this filtering is the M86 Web Filter. According to the product’s website, “The M86 Web Filtering Suite offers….filtering in more than 90 categories [containing] millions of Web sites.” While several categories pertain to explicit content, the vast majority are entirely unrelated. For example, Music, News, and the aforementioned Social Opinion are all groups that can be blocked wholesale.
Interestingly enough, the Darien Public School district's official computer-use policy makes no mention of such sites, only prohibiting “access to any material that is obscene, contains child pornography, or is harmful to minors.” As a result of this ambiguity, the entity ultimately responsible for choosing the groups to filter is the district administration under the auspices of the Board of Education. Also pivotal in the process is the Darien Information Technology Department. Jeff Adams is the department director and directly oversees the maintenance of the filter’s blacklist. He was forthright with his opinion and the official stance of the IT staff. “As a department, we are usually very strict with our blocking,” he said. Because of this policy, students and teachers must send requests to IT in order to access a certain site.
Whenever a student cannot access a web page, the first stop is usually to go to the library. As with most problems of media and information, students often bring their complaints to librarians Ms. Jackie Bennett or Ms. Megan Sapeta. Unfortunately, neither possesses the power to unblock websites. “All we can do is send an email to IT and ask them to unblock the site. We catch the flak for things outside our control,” Ms. Bennett said. Such requests to the librarians are common - with 20-30 requests possible on a standard school day. This exemplifies the lack of clarity over who is responsible within the current system. For the casual observer, it is impossible to discern the policy-makers. Such concerns have even encouraged some to wonder whether DHS might be better off without any filter at all.
As one might expect, any such proposal would certainly incite a certain amount of controversy. What is surprising, however, is the large discrepancy between the viewpoints of various members of the Darien Public School System.
“I believe it is our responsibility to teach students to use the Internet responsibly, and that cannot be done with such a restrictive filter in place,” said Ms. Bennett, a supporter of loosening the controls.
Her point is well made, as the district cannot control student activity outside of school hours, nor prevent circumvention of the filter with the use of proxies or cell phones.
Rather than try to stem the tide of technology, Ms. Bennett advocates for the availability of sites like Facebook and Twitter. She also points out that peer schools such as New Canaan High School and Staples High School allow unfettered access to the web.
But there are other considerations. Providing a counterpoint, Mr. Adams argued for the filter. “There is a large amount of unacceptable sites on the internet. The filter is an absolute necessity to protect the welfare of the students in this district,” the IT head said.
Indeed, there are a variety of unsavory sites that do not provide students any benefits and only serve to distract from learning. Mr. Matt Byrnes, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools, commented on the district’s official policy: “This is definitely an issue that is being discussed.”
Mr. Byrnes also acknowledged the recent change to the M86. “Our new system has more flexibility as it allows us to unblock sites on a case by case basis,” he said. According to Mr. Byrnes, the administration does acknowledge the large impact of sites like Facebook in students' daily lives and is carefully considering all possible options. “Our primary consideration is student learning…we are taking our time and trying to weigh the advantages and disadvantages,” he said.
At least for the time being, significant power is being delegated to the IT Department in deciding which sites should or should not be blocked. In the system as it stands now, IT first looks over website requests and either approves, denies, or passes on the suggestion to Mr. Adams and the administration.
This process may not last for long however, as the district is in the process of setting up a committee to provide a forum for the discussion of this important issue. Students, teachers, and administrators will have voices in determining whether a filter is necessary and, if so, which sites should be blocked. According to district officials, such a committee will probably be organized by the end of the year. “We are keeping all of our options open and nothing is off the table,” Mr. Byrnes said.
Although a totally free network is unlikely, a loosening of the restrictions is a distinct possibility. In the end, students can look forward to change of some sort, even though it might not be as radical as some might like.
For more on Internet issues at DHS check out this article: http://www.darienps.org/neirad/1004core.php
