Students were in a panic. Everywhere I looked, confusion and alarm was seen on the faces in the cafeteria. I was no different- my disappointment was mixed with fear for the unknown future- what were we going to do? I knew the dozens of perplexed students around me looking down at their phones were wrestling with the same reality: Instagram and Twitter have been blocked on the school Wi-Fi, courtesy of the internet content filter company, Lightspeed.

Now, I’m not a social media site junkie. Trust me, I know some of those students (they are pretty easy to identify, as they post at least three pictures of themselves a day), and I’m not one. But I did enjoy being able to scroll through Instagram during lunch or after I’d finished my work in class, and in my opinion, blocking these social media sites from the school Wi-Fi was both unnecessary and futile.

Most smart phones come with a data plan that gives the user access to 3G or 4G internet connection. If students choose not to use the school Wi-Fi, they can simply switch over to 3G or 4G and get on any site they want, including not only Twitter or Instagram, but other sites the school has blocked. I have actually found that since I have been forced to use 3G at school instead of wifi, I have accessed more blocked sites than I did before. Since I am already using my own internet, why not just get on Facebook as well as Instagram, or look up lyrics to the song I am listening too, or use Google images and actually have more than five of the images show up? Since the blocking of Instagram and Twitter, I have actually spent more time on blocked websites than I would have.

And then there is E-hall. Any student who has ever had a technology or fine art class in this hall has experienced this frustration: for some reason, there is no cell service in this wing. I don’t know why, but I have two classes a day in this hall, so I have had to learn to cope. Newspaper is one of those classes, and for those of you following The Red Ledger on any of our social media sites, you know that our staff accesses these sites frequently to post news updates. Well, imagine our dismay upon finding that since Instagram and Twitter have been blocked on school wifi and 3G and 4G don’t work in our classroom, we can’t access these sites during class unless someone takes a trek across the school, turns on their 3G or 4G, and then posts whatever we needed to post. It is not only inefficient, but also leaves newspaper students roaming the halls during class looking for cell service, something I’m sure is frowned upon by administration.

If students want to be distracted during class, they will find a way to be distracted, especially if they have a smart phone. There are plenty of games, apps, and websites that haven’t been discovered and blocked by the school that students can look at during class if they have decided not to pay attention. That may be disappointing for teachers and administration, but it is the truth, and blocking a few of the most popular websites is not going to change that.

See the school’s reasoning and student reaction behind the blockage