Have you ever tried to look up an article on your Chromebook for a school assignment and then seen that it has been blocked?

This issue needs to be addressed. When students have assignments that require them to look up articles or websites, they often receive a notification barring them from getting the information they need.

Teachers and school administrators decided that because multiple students were taking advantage of their freedom to look up information, they would shut off access to sites that are easily misused. However, this block prevents students from going to necessary websites. 

The number of school websites blocked is excessive. School admin desire the ability to control the school. Though students should have free rein when it comes to information about their essay topics, and more. This journalism class requires students to look up articles online to gain more information about their case for our school newspaper. If they are banned from using these resources, how are they supposed to write anything? One school newspaper agrees that websites that distract students or are inappropriate should be blocked but the school board should change some of the websites that have been banned already. 

Some may say that since multiple students cannot be trusted to use their freedom of google wisely, administrators deserve the right to punish all students and hopefully draw them away from the temptation of cheating using google. Since most teachers don’t have the time to walk around for 55 minutes watching students’ screens while they are taking tests, it is easier to just restrict everyone. They believe that this is the easiest and only solution to the ever-growing problem that it is hard to punish one kid in the act out of many students in each class. Also, if kids bring up that being penalized for someone else’s actions is not fair, it is easy for people to fight back with the term “life isn’t fair.”

However, just because the term “life isn’t fair” pertains in many instances throughout people’s daily lives, it should not be the fallback excuse when a matter deserves to be brought up. It is understandable that it is difficult to catch students in the act, although, the school should not have to punish and make every student pay the price all because a few people decided to cheat. This method of discipline does not set a proper example for how students should handle problems or difficult situations in the future. Students should not be taught the technique of collective punishment because, quite frankly, it is not an appropriate method. 

A solution to this problem is to have teachers download apps to monitor their student’s screens easily and catch someone in the act of cheating. Students should still have the right to use Google and other browsers to do their homework.