The Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition has had some parents report that their child was found to be accessing inappropriate content during class, while using the school issued laptop computer. A parent who is an IT professional volunteered to test the Internet filter at Wicomico County Public Schools using a school issued laptop and the school’s Wi-Fi in order to test the integrity of the web filter. The findings were surprising. Here is a short video demonstrating just a few examples of what could be accessed at the school while using their systems:
*WARNING: EXPLICIT MATERIAL. YOU MAY WANT YOUR KIDS TO EXIT THE ROOM*
Other very simple keywords were used. Results were returned that made it past the web filter when searching on Google and YouTube. Searches included sexually explicit material, including sex acts, sex stories, M-rated games, weapons, gang related activity, dating sites, suicide, and violence. Some of inappropriate content was blocked, but not enough. It was good to see that popular social media sites were blocked like Facebook, Instagram, and TicToc.
So who is the Director of Administration and the Deputy Director of Administration for the County Executives Office??
Um, duh. The teachers have access to Hapara that can shut this sort of activity down, but few teachers monitor and do so. The issue isn’t really their school issued laptops. It’s their cell phones that are on personal networks (or their parent’s) that can’t be monitored.