Type in just about any web address from a school device and the dreaded red screen comes up: Blocked. With so many sites inaccessible, one has to wonder how much ContentKeeper really protects students.

ContentKeeper is the website blocker that is most commonly used in public schools across the United States to prevent students from accessing websites that they shouldn’t: games, social media, and online stores, primarily. However, it also keeps students from accessing a wide range of additional content that could actually be useful for educational purposes–such as researching information, writing essays, and even writing newsmagazine articles.

What does it block?

No one can argue that ContentKeeper does its job blocking game sites, social media sites, and potentially dangerous sites, resulting in students being limited on sources they can choose from. A few examples include GameRadar+, YouTube, and miscellaneous other sites, such as Signature Solar and eBay. However, while ContentKeeper blocking such sites as YouTube and eBay is considered a necessary practice in general, when it comes to trying to get extra help during one’s own time, finding the average price of an object, or trying to understand a topic better, ContentKeeper can prevent students from doing so due to its broad range of blocked content. Commenting on whether he thinks ContentKeeper is beneficial, Sophomore Tristan Shannon refrained from using expletives and simply says,  “I hate them.”

Why do schools resort to ContentKeeper?

As Executive Principal Mr. Phil Shults says, “The internet is a nasty place, and ContentKeeper helps assure that students don’t do things they shouldn’t, and it keeps them focused, along with preventing students from bringing viruses or bugs into our systems.” His point accurately reinforces how ContentKeeper helps school staff keep students from accessing information they shouldn’t, along with preventing them from engaging in activities that could risk the integrity of their devices and servers. But, it does not address the inability to access legitimate sites.

Who are most adversely affected?

School officials should recognize the fact that over-restriction on students’ source availability only harms the students who actually do the work. While ContentKeeper does help school staff with management of student devices and prevent viruses from getting into their systems, ContentKeeper doesn’t help students who don’t want to learn to get them to learn. ContentKeeper is so overly restrictive that it even blocks staff from necessary sites that pertain to their job. Art teacher Mr. Arthur Hughes goes as far to say this: “I despise it. I had to get my 401k site unblocked just so I could change my stocks,” suggesting that, while ContentKeeper can help, it’s currently too restrictive on what it blocks.

What should change?

School officials should try to tighten the wide spectrum that they apply to block sites, as it currently blocks any website remotely related to a banned subject, such as video games–even if the site doesn’t directly correlate to that subject. If, for instance, a student wanted to research the topic of technical advances in video games, he would likely have to do it from a personal device at home rather than when at school on the issued iPad. The intent may be good, but the implementation of it stinks.

Senior Isaac Abarca, echoing more loudly the sentiment of Shannon and so many other students and staff alike, sums it up perfectly: “I HATE IT!”