Between the 2020-2021 school year to this year (21′-22′), our access to certain sites have changed dramatically. Our chromebooks have always restricted inappropriate sites, pictures, videos, etc. but many websites that we were able to access in previous years are not attainable anymore.

The Wayne Schools district is able to track what sites students go on when they use the school’s wifi, even when they are using their own devices (including cell-phones).

Students have noticed that this year, sites like Spotify and Pinterest have now been blocked, although many students used them appropriately in previous years. It’s most likely possible that a small margin of students abused their privileges of these sites, which is why it is blocked now.

Junior, Lilyana Asmar is one of the many students at Wayne Hills who has noticed that some of the restricted sites is negatively affecting her in regards to schoolwork. “I personally don’t see the reasoning behind blocking a site like Pinterest. Pinterest is a very common site to search for ideas that can be useful for things like school project ideas or posters. I had a project in Child Development recently and tried to research cool ideas on Pinterest, but when I searched up the site, it was unfortunately blocked.”

Asmar, among many students, believes that certain sites that have been blocked are necessary for some classes.

What’s also been noted is that some sites, which have no way of being used inappropriately, are being included as part of the restricted list. This includes websites teachers may assign students for classwork and homework.

The concern now is for the future. Students are wondering if every year, more and more sites will continue to be blocked as students find ways to abuse them until there is no use for having chromebooks except for Google applications. To what extent does the school have a say in what students do on their personal use of the internet?