Have you ever wanted to use a webpage at school, but are met with a blocked website screen when you open it? Or maybe you frequently use a website only to one day find it blocked? It’s happened to many students, and can be annoying and frustrating, but why does this happen, and is there anything you can do to get the websites back?
Over the summer, a plethora of websites were blocked, including Instagram, Pinterest, and Cool Math Games. These were likely in preparation for the new phone policy of this year. “These changes aim to limit disruptions and distractions during instructional time,” the County Technology Support Center stated, and then cited an infographic about the new phone policy. The infographic discussed student mental health and socialization being improved by removal of phones. “I’m pretty sure that they blocked a lot more over the summer than we previously blocked,” Instructional Facilitator of technology Jana Wagoner said, “and I think part of that is the no cell phone policy and this is sort of in conjunction with it, because without having the cell phones, you could just go and get on anything you wanted on your Chromebook.”
The school board has stated that limiting distraction and improving mental health through cutting back on technology is one of their goals. “By refocusing our students’ attention back into learning and away from their phones and social media, all our children will have a better opportunity to learn and succeed academically,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons said.
