Earlier this week I blogged about fighting fearmongering. PREA Prez notes that the next day his district blocked my blog:
[click on image for larger version]
Ironic timing, isn’t it, Doug?
Earlier this week I blogged about fighting fearmongering. PREA Prez notes that the next day his district blocked my blog:
[click on image for larger version]
Ironic timing, isn’t it, Doug?
My district filter blocks Joyce Valenza’s School Library Journal blog!
Somewhere on the site it must refer to (gasp!) humor, games, or cartoons, all verboten.
Very ironic. I think half the time people concede too much control to the software and aren’t really aware of what the filter actually is filtering.
As the Church Lady would have said, “How conveeeeient!”
Filtering companies are notorious for blocking anti-filtering sites. Always have been and expect they always will.
Of course, the book that’s banned automatically gets a bump in readership. Maybe you should be thankful!
Doug
we have filter software as well, but this year our district wisely decided to allow teachers to have the ability to unblock web sites. They still monitor what we do, but think it was a good move on their part to allow teachers to decide what is appropriate or not.
This is unbelievable. What exactly is the Park Ridge school district afraid of? I am familiar with that community (that is where Hillary Rodham Clinton grew up!). I know that it is relatively conservative, but not to this extent. I can understand banning certain sites that are inappropriate for children. What is inappropriate about your site? I just don’t get it. I am very fortunate to work in a school district just to the north of Park Ridge, Illinois that allows us blogging freedom and trusts us to act professionally. I feel sorry for the students and teachers in Park Ridge.
I think Carolyn hit the nail on the head – “half the time people concede too much control to the software and aren’t really aware of what the filter actually is filtering”. I control the filter for my school district and like ms_teacher’s district, we pass out override accounts to the teachers – even after blocking as little as possible. We follow the law, not as written by the filtering companies, but as written on the FCC’s website. It’s a shame when a school district over applies the law and allows a machine to determine what is appropriate for classroom use.
This site has now returned to its unblocked status. Was it blocked for content? Who knows? There is a combination of fear and goofy-ness to all this that defies common sense. One day something is allowed through, The next day, not. Try and plan your curriculum with internet filtering practice that changes from day to day, hour to hour. It’s not like there’s Big Brother in charge. It’s your little brother in charge, just foolin’ around. We have more technology in our district than exists in most third world countries. Just no instructional leadership. And fear.
Fred Klonsky
Park Ridge Education Association
Preaprez.wordpress.com