The internet has been a basic need for us, and there is probably no field where you do not require the internet. Thanks to the internet, we have enhanced our knowledge and gained new knowledge.
Schools are also giving importance to providing free internet services to their students while inside school premises. Therefore, providing the best wifi network for their students and staff is its primary concern. However, why do schools block everything on the internet?
In school, both teachers and students need a computer and the internet to perform various tasks like research, assignments, presentations, etc. If teachers have any doubts while teaching their students, they can take references from the internet. Likewise, students can connect to the internet whenever they have any doubts.
The American Association of Schools has declared September 30, 2020, as Banned Websites Awareness Day.
However, with access to the internet, students are getting more freedom, enabling them to explore and research various topics, including the nature vs nurture debate, for their persuasive essays. It is worth noting that some students, whose parents use parental control apps to restrict access to certain websites, may rely on the educational institution's internet to gather relevant information for their nature vs nurture persuasive essays. On the other hand, it cannot be ignored that misuse of the schools' internet for illegal activities has become a concern, leading to the implementation of stringent internet restrictions by most schools today.
Schools Block Everything on the Internet | 5 Reasons
Here are the main reasons why schools block everything on the internet.
1. To Minimize the Chances of Cyberbullying
There are different kinds of cyberbullying, such as harassment, cyberstalking, catfishing, etc. Almost all parents restrict their kids from bullying their peers, but some students want to bully their peers either just for fun or to show they are the cool ones in the class.
Access to the internet with no restrictions is the main causes of bullying in school.
Students use computers and the internet to bully their peers if their parents have set parental control apps on their devices. They feel it is the safest way to bully one other without revealing their identity. Because of schools' internet, bullying cases have increased in schools.
Schools block websites on school computers that stop students from bullying their peers. They also use parental control apps and keyword stroke techniques to minimize such cases at schools.
2. Keep Students Away from Inappropriate Contents
Kids are extremely curious, and this curiosity leads them to research anything and everything. However, all the online content is not appropriate for kids. Teenagers might get exposed to adult content or online gambling through their friends during adolescence. If one of their peers is into online gambling, it can influence your kids.
Your kid can get into online gambling or watch inappropriate videos through the school internet. Also, kids can download such content on their phones using their educational institution's wifi. After downloading such content, they can hide using vault apps.
You may have seen many students downloading inappropriate content on their devices and watching such content in corners of the schools. Many times, even teachers have caught them watching inappropriate content. This is also one of the reasons for schools to block everything on the internet.
3. To Minimize Distracting Sites while Studying
Chatting on social media while teachers are teaching students is commonly seen among students. Many students are not concentrating on what their teachers are teaching them; instead are communicating with their peers on social media who are just a few benches away from each other.
Kids can also play online games or watch movies or series during classes. For instance, many educational institutions have blocked YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and many other popular sites that teens use the most.
Similarly, you might be well aware of the many distracting sites on the internet that students access while they are bored. And these sites can be highly distracting for students, and one notification ring can distract them even when they are about to study. Henceforth, this is why schools are blocking incredibly distracting websites.
Moreover, students can seek online help from a research paper writing service if they have difficulties with their studies. By implementing measures to restrict access to such sites, educational institutions aim to create a more conducive learning environment, promoting better concentration and academic performance among students.
4. Keeping Kids Away from Online Predators
There are many websites where there are many scammers and online predators. Kids who do not know much about scammers and predators can be victims. They can randomly click on the link that scammers have set and sell their data to the scammer.
Even though parents limit internet time after school, they do not know what sites and links they visit at school. By blocking sites that contain malicious links, you can protect your students from getting scammed online.
5. To Keep Staff Focused on their Job
Not just students, even staff can misuse the school internet instead of doing their job. For instance, school librarians can do online shopping instead of doing their jobs like managing books and all.
Likewise, even teachers can turn on YouTube videos to teach their students while relaxing and sitting. They may not put any effort into teaching kids or making them clear about the subject matter. Therefore, school administrators are concerned about blocking all inappropriate websites that distract them from teaching students.
Schools Block Everything on the Internet | 3 Possible Ways
School administrators use various techniques to restrict students from accessing content they should not. Educational institutions are always focused on providing safe online services, and thereby they are employing many methods to block websites in school systems.
Here are some of the easy techniques that you can use for website blocking:
i. Block/Blacklist Website
Many schools have started blocking certain websites like social networking sites, gaming sites, and adult websites. In addition, some schools do not allow their students to use their mobile phones inside their school premises.
Therefore, they use schools' computers to do unethical activities. Such as bullying peers, online gambling, and viewing inappropriate content harmful to minors.
Blocking distracting and age-inappropriate websites for kids is the easiest way to block websites. Using an internet filter, you can block websites on school computers. Therefore to protect students, here's how schools are blocking websites on their Windows Computer:
Step 1: Use the administrator account to log in to the computer.
Step 2: Now go to file explorer and then go to the search bar on the left and type "c:\Windows\System32\drivers\."
Step 3: Using Notepad, open the host file after double-clicking on it.
Step 4: Go to the new line on the Notepad and enter your IP address and Websites URL that you want to block.
Step 5: You can go to the new line to add more URLs that you want to block.
However, one drawback of this method is that you have to keep entering the URLs of websites you want to block. Since there are trillions of websites, you may not know which is inappropriate for kids, and you may even forget to enter some problematic URLs. Therefore, this technique might not be practical.
ii. Ways to Block Websites on the Web Browsers
Since students can visit many web browsers, you do not want them to see. Thereby to provide an extra level of security, you can block websites at browsers. Sometimes, even kids can unblock a website from the earlier method; therefore, you should block websites on the browser level.
Block Websites on Google Chrome
Here are the steps that you can follow to block websites on Google Chrome.
- First of all, add the "Block Site" Chrome extension on the school's PC.
- You can check if the extension has been added to the PC or not by viewing the extension icon on the top of the window.
- Now visit each website you want to block and click on the extension icon.
Block Websites on Mozilla Firefox
Here are the steps for blocking websites on Mozilla Firefox:
Step 1: First, you need to open Firefox.
Step 2: Then type "Block Site" on the search bar of the browser.
Step 3: It will direct you to the next page to find extensions to block websites and add the extension.
Step 4: Finally, a confirmation box will appear where you need to click on "Allow this Extension" to confirm the extension.
iii. Use Parental Controls Apps For Schools
There are also some parental control apps that you can use to monitor your school's systems activities. Parental control apps give the most accurate picture of students' activities, and it is also one of the best and the easiest ways to block websites.
You can block apps, websites, keywords, and many more using such apps. Some of the best parental control apps suitable for schools are FamilyTime, Qustodio, Kaspersky Safe Kids, etc.
Conclusion
Summing up, schools block everything on the internet to protect students from the dangerous contents of the internet. In addition, many websites can be harmful to minors because schools are concerned about blocking websites.
Since blocking all the websites on schools' computers might not be possible, schools should use monitoring apps. These apps are best for blocking sites and make monitoring work more straightforward.
FAQ
i. Why do schools block games?
Schools want their students to be productive and focus on their studies during their time, which is why schools block gaming apps or gaming websites. Unfortunately, many scammers are on the gaming websites; therefore, schools prefer to block gaming websites.
ii. Why does my school administrator block everything?
For school administrators, students' safety is the primary concern; they do not want their students to land in any trouble while they are at school. Also, students can easily get distracted by the internet and various contents over it; hence school administrators block everything.
iii. Do schools block data?
No, schools do not block data on their student's phones. However, many schools have the rule of switching off the cell phone while inside the class.
