Freedom Down

Should a School Use a Content Filtering Proxy?

Educational institutions use a content filtering Internet proxy for two major reasons: to protect the students and the school itself. It is widely believed that with filters operating in classrooms and campus libraries, the students will have less opportunity to view obsene, values-eroding materials like pornography and prevent them from peeking into their favorite social networks and keep them on-task while they are online. Educators are also concerned about intrusions of objectionable materials and the reassuring presence of filters give the parents and the community at large the peace of mind that their children are insulated from the smut that litter the Internet. While the objectives are noble, still, the question arises as to whether a school should use a content filtering proxy in view of the following considerations: Instead of discouraging students from connecting to smut sites, content filters often times challenge students to go around or try to beat the 'system,' thereby having the opposite effect of motivating or increasing attention to restricted obscene sites. Since the content filtering proxy is devoid of human judgment on what is appropriate and what is not, it may have too narrow or too broad a definition of what is obscene. The result is that the filter may only block sites with patently sexual content but fail to filter out sites that have subtle but disturbingly violent, hate-filled or discriminatory undertones. On the other extreme end, the parameters of a content filter may be so encompassing that it may limit access to sites that are vital to researchers. For instance, a student doing research work on breast cancer may be locked out of her classroom computer once she keys in 'breast cancer' to search for the appropriate site because of the word 'breast,' which is deemed sexually offending. America is the world's showcase of democracy and it has spent a lot of treasure and sacrificed many lives on the altar of freedom. No less that its educational system is in the forefront of teaching the many aspects of democracy such as the freedom of speech and the freedom of choice to students who will one day lead the country armed with what they have learned in school. The use of a content filtering proxy which limits the choice of sites of students not only restricts their ability to get both sides of an issue, but confuses them as well on the nobleness of intentions of an institution that is supposed to promote, and not suppress civil liberties. Removing the choice of what one can view and not view and placing that authority on a single person or a specialized software called 'content filtering proxy' may run counter to the basic notion that a school is the cradle of democratic ideals. The better way is to hand hold children to help them define their values so that they will be better equipped in determining for themselves what is appropriate and what is not.

About the Author:

Peter Garant has written many articles about Proxy Websites for a recently launched website about New Proxies. Visit Should a School Use a Content Filtering Proxy?.