Nothing’s more annoying than trying to research something, finding a really good source, clicking the link, and seeing that darned black and blue screen saying “blocked”. FCPS has blocked countless websites, and they add more to the list every day. So what is FCPS’ reason for the number of blocked websites? On the Internet Content Filtering page of the FCPS website, they say why.
“How it works:
- The filtering vendor Lightspeed categorizes sites (e.g., “sex acts”)
- The school system selects to block categories based on School Board policy
- The vendor updates server-based lists remotely every night
- Category lists are owned by the Vendor. They are not shared with the users”
This process has made research difficult for students. Furthermore, FCPS has banned every website outside of the categories this vendor accepts. This means different news outlets and resources that might fly under the radar (and aren’t in these predefined ‘categories’) can not be accessed.
Another blockage limit put in place by FCPS concerns content that isn’t necessarily ‘inappropriate’ in nature: games. From video games like “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” “Overwatch,” and “The Sims 4,” to simple games like “2048,” or “Papa’s Freezeria,” FCPS has cracked down on the usage of games. A few years ago, CoolMathGames, a website with many nostalgic games, got banned. While the educational aspects of games on the website were debatable, as a whole, CoolMathGames was meant to be educational, and shouldn’t have been banned just like that.
On the same page on the FCPS website, they state their reasoning for why so many games are banned, regardless of whether they contain educational content or not.
“Online gaming has the potential to be a major ‘bandwidth-hog,’ as well as interfere with productive curriculum work. Music files generate ‘bursty’ traffic and generally require long download times.”
If online gaming is the issue because it wastes Wi-Fi and bandwidth then why is the dinosaur game on Google, an iconic offline game, also blocked? Just some food for thought, FCPS.
But let’s talk about music. This is especially a big deal at Madison because both the Wi-Fi and the reception here are booty, so we can’t access apps that require connection on our phones. This year though, it’s much easier for AirPods to connect to the new laptops, and it’s almost a waste because Spotify is blocked. Apple and Amazon Music users win this one because they’re both unblocked as of now.
Furthermore, we all know social media is blocked on our computers, but there are still some that could be useful. For example, Pinterest is something that is a major source of inspiration especially for the arts, but it’s blocked. This is an odd choice because Pinterest regularly moderates its content, and there’s almost no interaction with others on the platform. A form of social media that isn’t banned though, is Facebook. As of now, the drama department uses it to communicate about the plays and musicals they put on. Facebook is arguably a ‘higher’ form of social media, with contact outside of FCPS being much easier, along with lower standards for their filtering, permitting explicit content to slip through the cracks. Both could have inappropriate content on them, but if they are used for educational purposes, why should either be blocked?
The last thing FCPS mentions on its Internet Content Filtering page, is how the firewall is specific to each school.
“Unblocking Sites – Schools can allow students to gain access to a site that is blocked OR add sites to the list of sites to which students are denied access.”
What does this entail? If you, staff or student, find a website that could be helpful or educational, bring it up with the authority at Madison, because it can be unblocked. If we learn to communicate our needs to the school supervisors, we can bypass the limits FCPS has put on us.
