Facebook, the social network of the generation, has become a hot button issue at AHS. With the addition of laptops in the high school, it has been debated whether or not access to Facebook should be even allowed in the building. In fact, Facebook was blocked for one day on the school network. Mr. Leonard Hartman, an AHS computer teacher, said this was because in many classes it was interfering with learning. Many students were not happy about this because it meant that even during free periods and lunch, students could not access Facebook. The site is currently unblocked again. When Hartman was asked, “Why did the school unblock Facebook?” His response was, “One of the things we need to teach is responsibility and proper use of the computers.”
Unblocking Facebook has caused much debate among teachers throughout AHS. Some teachers want it blocked. Mrs. Ransom, an AHS English teacher quoted, “I would like to trust students and hope that they know, but it is my experience that not all students know the time and place to use Facebook which makes it difficult to teach in the classroom.”
On the other hand, some teachers believe that it is the students’ responsibility to learn in the classroom and blocking Facebook will not change work ethics that are already instilled in the student. Mrs. Pamela Schnell, an AHS science teacher, stated that she has never been on Facebook. She does not even know how to categorize it; is it internet or email or something else? She said, “ I did not even know it was ever blocked or unblocked.”
It is Mrs. Schnell’s classroom rule that students should be thinking about what she wants them to think about, when she wants them to think about it. Therefore, she is thinking about science and the students should be too. She is unaffected by the blocking or unblocking, but can see the controversy. She added, “Education is not education, its life. We want to be so controlling in education that we exclude the rest.”
This is true, but it is also true that school is where kids are being taught morals and responsibility because some kids do not learn those lessons at home any more. Schnell also said that our culture is so desensitized to what is right and wrong, there is no propriety. She says, “People have sacrificed education for their entertainment.”
Hartman said that he has received calls from parents who want their child off of Facebook and he tries to do this, but ultimately students need to learn how to be responsible and that should include knowing that if they are given work to do they need to do it. He also said he does not find Facebook to be a problem in his classroom.
As of now, Facebook will remain unblocked, despite the concerns of many parents and teachers. It will be up to students to self-monitor and practice responsible habits. Is AHS up to that?