Wednesday, April 06, 2005
School content filter falls
Censorship, publication bans and content filters are both ways for authority to control what its public sees. In general I am opposed to all three of these, though temporary publication bans like the one in put place by justice Gomery are the closest acceptable. I the case of the Gomery ban authority isn't saying we don't want you to know this, it is saying we need some of you not to know this, like 36 people, so please don't read this 'cause it will make our life harder.
So on a vague related topic
Jax
ROB MCDONALD, SPOKANE SPOKESMAN REVIEW - A Lewis and Clark High School sophomore brought Internet freedom to his peers for two months with a Web site he called Bad Dog. Then the school put his dog in the pound, and his computer programming teacher was disciplined.
Conrad Sykes, 16, created a Web site that bypassed the district's Internet content filter, which was hampering student research, the student said. Sykes said he did this so students could access research sites - but it also allowed students to visit adult sites or others that the school district intends to screen out. Sykes' site was so successful that many Spokane Public School students - and people from as far away as Alabama and Pennsylvania - used it thousands of times between Dec. 14 and Feb. 22. Sykes was even asked by his computer teacher, Wes Marburger, to make a presentation to other classes on the number of visitors to his Web site. The district filter is called Bess, and a dog is in the logo. In the end, Sykes was suspended for two days in February for violating school computer use policies. His teacher was given a written reprimand and removed from teaching computer classes. The state Office of Professional Practices is now investigating and could potentially take away Marburger's teaching certificate.
Brown said the Web site used a domain name from the Turks and Caicos Islands nation, which probably sold its domain to Internet companies. District investigators read in great detail on Sykes' blog how he built the site. They're also watching for similar proxy sites. "Our primary goal is to protect the students as best we can and protect the computer environment of the district," Brown said.
So on a vague related topic
Jax
ROB MCDONALD, SPOKANE SPOKESMAN REVIEW - A Lewis and Clark High School sophomore brought Internet freedom to his peers for two months with a Web site he called Bad Dog. Then the school put his dog in the pound, and his computer programming teacher was disciplined.
Conrad Sykes, 16, created a Web site that bypassed the district's Internet content filter, which was hampering student research, the student said. Sykes said he did this so students could access research sites - but it also allowed students to visit adult sites or others that the school district intends to screen out. Sykes' site was so successful that many Spokane Public School students - and people from as far away as Alabama and Pennsylvania - used it thousands of times between Dec. 14 and Feb. 22. Sykes was even asked by his computer teacher, Wes Marburger, to make a presentation to other classes on the number of visitors to his Web site. The district filter is called Bess, and a dog is in the logo. In the end, Sykes was suspended for two days in February for violating school computer use policies. His teacher was given a written reprimand and removed from teaching computer classes. The state Office of Professional Practices is now investigating and could potentially take away Marburger's teaching certificate.
Brown said the Web site used a domain name from the Turks and Caicos Islands nation, which probably sold its domain to Internet companies. District investigators read in great detail on Sykes' blog how he built the site. They're also watching for similar proxy sites. "Our primary goal is to protect the students as best we can and protect the computer environment of the district," Brown said.
