We Demand An End to the Blocking of Media in Schools

Schools have begun blocking various and sundry content on web browsers, hindering student's access to the internet. This needs to stop.

Some things make sense to be blocked in schools. Porn, for example. Things that do nothing to better the mind. But there are some things that are beneficial when used properly.

Schools today seem to have a lot of down time. During that down time often I, as a current high school student, am working on something.
Did you know that students can now be entrepreneurs on the internet? The internet is an incredible phenomenon. Now students like me can create a career from nothing but an internet connection and a skill. All it takes is following an algorithm and some elbow grease. It's truly incredible, but it only works when one can get to all the needed tools.

As an artist, I have to post reliably and often on multiple sites. It's a marketing ploy. I'm getting my work out there for the world to see, growing my brand. Many, MANY other students could be doing this too, but they don't have access to what I do because RCSD schools have recently begun blocking Google Chrome.

So what are the benefits of unblocked content?

- During down time students can alleviate the stress of a high school environment with fun activities such as simple games and quiet socialization.

- Students can begin work on their own careers hosted on the internet and create something to fall back on before graduation.

- Students with unhindered internet access are more connected than ever, with access to anyone who has a wireless internet connection.

- Students can research and learn about career paths and topics that they are really interested in and figure out what future they'd really like to pursue rather than turning all of high school life into a guessing game and procrastinating until it's too late.

Well, what are the cons?

- Students are more likely to procrastinate in class and not pay attention.

- Students are less likely to actually do school work.

In retaliation to these cons, I have this to say. Students should be held accountable for their actions- or inaction in this case. If a student fails to pay attention in class then they will face the bad grades and have to reconcile with themselves and fix the problem. School is not about getting money and making a better building. It's about teaching children what they need to grow up and succeed in the day to day life of an adult.
Failure is needed to learn. We learn from mistakes, it's the nature of humanity. If a student knows that he can't fail because the teacher will always let him make it up what do you think he's going to do? He'll continue failing and continue making it up rather than truly learning from the "mistake" he's presented with.

Besides, if students somehow find ways to fail to pay attention anyways, how is blocking a website going to help?


The internet is a really cool place. We can do a lot with it. Our youngest generation was born with it at their fingertips. Who are the adults of today to deprive the children of tomorrow of a tool they could use to their own benefit?
We don't just want to know what do to anymore. We want to know why we do it. We want to know how to build ourselves into better people. We want to become better. We want the world to succeed, no matter what people say about our generation. We can't do it without the tools.

Unblocking media is kindling the fires of change for the better.