Many schools have put filters on their computer programs so the kids would not be able to access to any inappropiate web-pages, but many of these filters have blocked certain programs that the children need to use for school reports and other assignments. I agree that certain web-sites should be blocked from the children, but what about the other important sites needed for school work? Should kids be at a disadvantage of not being able to get access to theses web-pages? Filtering software sends the wrong message. It tells kids we do not trust them, that they can't make their own decisions, and that the computer knows what is good or bad for them. Rather than helping, filtering software provides a challenge for teachers and students to get around. Ted Nellen wrote,"I use the Internet to do that since it provides the most recent information. When the New York City Board of Education first installed filtering software on our machines, I tested it with the links from my online AIDS lesson. Not one site came up. This meant that the filtering software worked. It also meant that I couldn't teach my AIDS lesson as mandated by the same group that put the filters on my computers. I was told I could use the printed literature the board provides to teach my AIDS lessons. In other words, I can hand out the stuff on paper, but I can't view it on the Net." This totally proves the whole point that filters have a lot of bad effects on the school children and their education.
Even though filters may have some bad effects on the children at education, they also have a lot of good effects. If you take a look at safe kids, you could see all the good things filters do for children. In addition to filters they also have other programs that can control what children are looking at on the web, since not all kids can be trusted to be left on the web with no control. This is because many kids of our generation are very curious about many things they shouldn't be concerned with. That would be one of the reasons why these filters would be needed.
I think the whole idea of what the filters are suppose to do is good, but the fact that the filters block information that the children need is a problem. The filters need to be upgraded to a better program that can block the unecessary web-sites but get the children the information that they need. The bad thing about all of this is that the filters in some schools dont even work, meaning the many of these schools are making the parents believe that there kids are safe/protected from these nasty web-pages but they actually aren't.