Honestly, I think Websense only hinders the students from looking for information. Too many things are blocked, and a great deal of them shouldn't be. Sure, games and things are bad, but what's wrong with forums? Or sometimes, when you look for unrelated pages, it will say something has "Shopping". I was trying to look up Food Lion, for example, because I have a project in accounting for it. I also happen to work there. It kept me from looking at information because of it's shopping affiliation. I think Websense could stand a little less discrimination, because not everything it's keeping us from seeing is bad, and not everything we're allowed to see is good.

I agree with forums being unblocked. As a professional they are blocked from me too and it does inhibit my job some. However, playing devils advocates some forums can get a bit out of line, for example, fark.com. I play in their forums and I see the language. I think that there needs some limits establish since this is a public school. I don't think all forums should be blocked though.

Again the wonderful insights. Yes, sites such as fark.com are ridiculously outrageous in terms of school-safe language. But surely there must be a way to just censor curse words? MMORPG games have an option in-game that makes curse words appear as coded gibberish...can't be TOO hard?

It's not hard but it's expensive. Many MMORPG games have more money to spend on such wonderful toys then public schools :)

Hahah, yeah, the $15 a month helps...still, I think it's something the school, or even OTHER schools, should devote some time and money to. I find it unreasonable that a lack of funds are keeping us from using more tools of education. However, I'm highly idealistic, and the amount of money involved really doesn't make sense to me.

is dumb.

Concise, and to the point. It has varying degrees of dumbness yes, but it keeps some of the filth from reaching us.

It is very difficult for teachers to work with Websense because sites that are blocked for students are not blocked for teachers and we do not know this until we ask students to go to these sites. It can be very frustrating. Prior to Websense acquiring the previous filtering system we had earlier this year, everyone had access to YouTube. What are your thoughts on that access?

Youtube is filled with mindless videos and mature content, but on the flipside it has a lot of videos that are educational as well as entertaining. I don't know how one could moderate that, other than only giving teachers access. Still, sometimes I wish we were given a bit more freedom, but I also realize that a lot of people would abuse that.

Doh, that last comment was mine.

In terms of websense there is just a couple of things i'd like to say. First, as a user {unwilling} of this software for my ENTIRE school-life, i have found it unhelpful, contrary, and basically more of a problem then it is worth. Second, as someone that has more than just a simple knowledge of computers i've come to realize that the existance of filters like websense do NOTHING to prevent the people that truely want to do things "against" the rules, you can still get around websense, just like every other program. There is a line where the programs purpose of DISUADING people from searching out these things changes into something that just is an obstacle for everyone else, no matter what they are doing.
J

Truth. Websense is nothing more than a light deterrent to someone who truly wishes to get around the filters. Most of the people looking for information don't know how to get around it, and even if they did, wouldn't for fear of administrative action. I've known many people get around the filters in my time, and I agree with Janus, it's more trouble than it's worth.

Well hey, isn't the point of websense to prevent the playing of games in school?

Yes, but in the process it blocks the user from looking at potential sources of education. It's hard to respect a system that basically tells you to shove off every time you go seeking some tidbit of information.

Jackhammer ~ it isn't just about playing games in school. There are many sites outside of school that parents may or may not want students going to. If a student gets to a site that is deemed inappropriate by parents, it is the school that is held liable. We have to look at the bigger picture. Now I do believe websense blocks too much, but it is needed to filter some content. Parents look to the schools to help "protect" students. If we don't do this job to the best of our ability then we are deemed irresponsible and leave ourselves wide open to lawsuits. Does this make sense?

Makes sense to me, America is the Land of the Lawsuit, people can sue you for their coffee being too hot ^.^

Personally, I'd love to have a bit of time to play some games and such, but I know most kids would take that same time to look at 18+ material, and T-Mang is very correct, the parents don't care that their student was the one looking for the stuff, they hold the school responsible. Stupid, yes, but the way it's set up right now, the only way the student can access 18+ material from school is illegal, which absolves the school of all legal reprocussions. Smart, in it's own right.