My school blocked this Site

vamp · March 07, 2007, 08:17:56 AM

I was surfing the net in school and, I found they blocked this site. It was just becuase it was a forum. Me and my friends where ticked cus they blocked everything.

Gremlin · March 07, 2007, 02:35:21 PM

Yeah, my school has it blocked as well. Nothing game-based is allowed.

stumpy · March 07, 2007, 03:04:38 PM

I am curious, do the schools employ some software that scans sites and looks for keywords or something to determine if they are game-based or is there a person doing it?

(Actually, it's also likely that they subscribe to a service that does both: software generates a list of sites that might fall under one category or another and then a person does a quick scan of the site and adds them to a list that the computers at the schools download for blocking purposes.)

Tortuga · March 07, 2007, 07:21:39 PM

I'm a teacher in a school which blocks many websites -- and thank goodness. There's a lot of garbage out there I don't need my 10 year old students coming across.

As for sites that are blocked for no apparent reason, I know the program we use looks for keywords, so something on FR is activating that blocker.

Reepicheep · March 08, 2007, 12:16:44 AM

It is a silly system. The poor educational BBC website was blocked for about a month, as was wikipedia.

I'm starting to wonder why we have computers in the school, frankly.

Uncle Yuan · March 08, 2007, 04:36:44 AM

The system may be imperfect, but I can't think why there would be any legitimate reason for a high school student to access FR. Not that we're bad or dangerous, mind, but we serve no real educational purpose.

But yes, most screening programs are oddly capricious in their screening.

the_ultimate_evil · March 08, 2007, 10:02:09 AM

Quote from: Uncle Yuan on March 08, 2007, 04:36:44 AM
The system may be imperfect, but I can't think why there would be any legitimate reason for a high school student to access FR. Not that we're bad or dangerous, mind, but we serve no real educational purpose.

But yes, most screening programs are oddly capricious in their screening.

you actully expect me to work while i'm in college

Dweomer Knight · March 08, 2007, 01:23:16 PM

I work at a public high school and our filter is pretty unforgiving. It's amazing how many things get blocked as pornography when the site clearly isn't. All chat sites, message boards and forums are supposed to be blocked but many sites seem to slip through that particular filter category. My position has multiple responsibilities and I do have the ability to temporarily or permanently block/unblock a site. However, any such change made affects the entire district (15 buildings dropping down to 11 over the next few years; aging population, declining enrollment, etc.) so I generally don't abuse the privilege.

DK