By Hannah Wieditz
Students relaxing during study hall might seem a little bit grumpier after they’ve just discovered their favorite gaming website has been blocked. A classmate, excited to upload pictures to Instagram, finds him or herself incapable of the task. All of the students become accustomed to the computer monitor lighting up with a bright yellow exclamation point, marking the website inaccessible on the server.

Although we live in a society where social media and computer games are found all over the globe, there is one location where the majority of it is restricted: school. Students and administration continually disagree over which social media websites are necessary to block, and which can be used towards educational purposes.

The current conflict exists in the computer labs of Mount Vernon High School. When shuffled into a class meeting on the first day of school, a list of restricted websites was announced to each grade. Facebook, which has been restricted since before the class of 2014 entered high school, comes as no surprise to returning students.

The only new social media website blocked directly by the Mount Vernon IT staff was Instagram. This photo and video sharing social networking service was removed from the server upon the middle school’s request. “Instagram was blocked because it can be a distraction to students,” said middle school principal Bob Haugse. “Students sometimes make choices without thinking or realizing the long term ramifications of pictures they post online.”

Mr. Haugse said that social media could possibly be unblocked once they have had to time educate students on how to manage their digital footprint. “I know there are a lot of educational advantages to many social media sites; we just need to educate everyone first,” he said.

As expected, high school students who regularly use the Instagram application had negative reactions to this restriction. “I was kind of shocked when the school took away Instagram. I know a lot of kids find this app fun. With all of the stress that teachers put on us with their heavy loads of homework, we need a way to escape for a few minutes,” said senior Laura Deininger.

Another senior, Maddy Ebel said, “People do not use [Instagram] to bully others, they use it so other classmates can see what they are up to throughout the day. I think having Instagram blocked is stupid.”

Other students found the blocking of Instagram counterintuitive because of their ability to access it on their Smartphones. “If people want to use it, they’ll use it,” said senior Lance Lineburg.

This was not the only new restriction in place for the 2013-2014 school year. In addition to the blocking of Instagram, the school district also banned first person shooting games due to their promoted violence. “To me, it was just a gut feeling that that is not something we want to have going on in schools,” said assistant high school principal Joe Wallace.

The reaction to this restriction stirred mixed emotions among students. Junior Courtney Maddocks said, “I thought it was a good idea. We’re trying to decrease violence in schools, and I don’t think allowing those games will help that.”
Well known video gamer, Macon M., disagreed with the ban saying, “It’s scientifically proven that videogames … are related to a reduction in violence, a drastic reduction in violence, and they have not been proven to be related to school shootings in any way.”

Despite these controversies, the most widely-used social media website in high school still remains accessible to students. Twitter is a micro blogging network that allows users to post their thoughts in 140 characters or less, and is still available for students to use on the school’s server. “Twitter is a tool that I advocate for,” said Mr. Wallace, “I believe it is a little less personal than Facebook. It can be utilized for publicity and be a very positive way to get the information of Mount Vernon out there.”

Students agree that Twitter is beneficial regarding the distribution of information. Not only can they tweet from their personal accounts, but they can also create accounts to provide news about clubs, sports, and activities for other students to follow. “The Twitter sites we have share with us school news, the lunch menu, and update us on the scores of our activities,” junior Abbey Teubel said. “They show us how [students] are having fun and being creative.”

Although social media is increasingly associated with distraction and misuse of time, students and faculty have found ways to utilize certain applications for educational purposes. However, if deemed inappropriate, the administration has the ultimate control of whether or not it is accessible on the server. This controversial topic will continue to be prevalent in a society of growing technology.