Are the Chromebooks filtered at school? At home?

The short answer is yes to both. We have software on the devices that filters the content both at school and at home. We do think it is important to know that no filter is 100% effective at blocking questionable content on the internet. The internet changes much faster than content filtering can adapt. That is also why we will be teaching students more about digital citizenship and internet safety. The world we live in is hyper-connected, and we believe it is our responsibility in our schools to help children learn the power of those connections but also the potential perils.

Who makes the decision on what is filtered or not filtered from the internet?

The Children’s Internet Protection Act requires school districts as a condition of using federal E-rate dollars to filter access to depictions that are obscene, child pornography and harmful to minors. Read more about that here: https://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act. No filter is 100% effective as rapidly as the internet changes, so we also implement specific lessons in Internet Safety from Common Sense Media. If a site is submitted for review, it is evaluated against the stated educational benefit and potential for harm or misuse, and filtered or not filtered accordingly.

What if my child goes to inappropriate sites?

Progressive discipline will be administered according to the Alice ISD Student Handbook, and we will use these as opportunities for learning as warranted by the facts of each individual instance. Our belief is that we are also teaching students to use resources effectively, ethically and productively, and we will use indiscretions as teaching opportunities to reinforce those aspects of this work.