As the social media craze continues to increase, so does the debate over its place in the classroom. Whether or not Facebook should be blocked and whether or not students should be ever allowed to be on the site are the most hotly contested debate. Recently here at AHS, students and faculty learned that the Administration had blocked what, for some people, is the lifeblood of their communication and interpersonal relationships: Facebook.
Since laptops were issued to students last year, the battle to keep students’ attention on teachers and to keep it away from social media sites has been a problem.
Last school year, soon after the laptops were issued, talk of blocking Facebook began almost immediately, and, for about a week, Facebook was blocked. It was soon unblocked, however, and has been ever since then. “The reason [it is blocked now] is because the district is doing the NESA tests, (mandatory online test given out by the State,) and we needed the bandwidth to do the testing.” Said AHS Principle Dr. Pat Jones. “Facebook, game sites and music sites take up ton of bandwidth and cause the Internet to slow down”. “Some of them will be unblocked, I believe starting Monday the 11,” he added.
Along with Facebook the free online music site Pandora was also blocked because of the testing. “I don’t believe that Pandora will [ever] be unblocked,” commented Dr. Jones, “It takes up too much bandwidth. Some of [the other sites] will be unblocked, I believe starting Monday the 11,” he added.
One common misconception is that Facebook, when blocked, is only blocked for the students at AHS. Dr. Jones says that is not the case at all. “The way our district works is that everything comes into one main source, so [when] these websites that have been blocked, such as Facebook, Pandora, and some online game sites, are blocked they are blocked for the entire district not just the high school.” Moreover, every computer that’s on the districts bandwidth is blocked, meaning that the same websites are blocked for the teachers as well.
Though many people have complained about Facebook being blocked, it may not be bad thing. Facebook has absolutely no educational value and all it seems to do is distract students and their teachers from their job, which is to focus in class and get their workdone.
“Not being able to get on aFacebook is a good thing in my eyes, as I now don’t waste time, but instead actually get work done,” said Junior Parker Cyza, “Now I won’t sit on Facebook, during class.”
Even Twitter, which has remained unblocked, meaning students are still able to access the website, has been affected because all links posted there are blocked. Therefore pictures on Twitter are unable to be viewed.
Facebook and photo links, however, are still expected to be unblocked, but as of Thursday morning, they had not been. Pandora, however, will remain blocked.
As these websites become available again, students will, most likely, return to Facebook, and the debate about whether or not it should be blocked for good will continue. But, for now, some people will be able to breathe, knowing their invaluable website will soon be returned.
