So I have been researching best practices for internet filtering. We as a school district that enjoys partaking in task that is E-rate, are required to filter our Internet access. we have to block "pornographic" sites.
We at EGCSD block more than that and I am not sure why. I understand the blocking of pornography as a safe guard for our students. And I understand the need to block some sites so that they do not overwhelm the bandwidth. I do NOT however want to become the "Internet Police". There are far more pressing issues that I need to spend my time on.
The problem is, every vendor who makes a filtering device tries to sell it to you because the students are the "enemies". I do not believe this to be true at all. There are always those students who will bend or break the rules, but for the most part the students are willing to accept rules if you give them reasonable rules and true explanations. Maybe I have too much faith in kids, but I find that 95% (I just made that number up) of my students will rise to the expectations that I have for them.