WLC blocks e-mail, leaving many frustrated

Published: Sunday, January 31, 2010

Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative has always blocked certain Web sites so students couldn’t use them.

In most cases, this isn’t a bad idea, because there are Web sites that definitely don’t need to be accessed during school hours.

Many students and some teachers have said they strongly disagree with the fact that students can no longer access e-mail during school hours, however.

“I think it is not necessary to block e-mail from the students,” sophomore Eden Popek said. “At our age, we know what is appropriate to be using in school.”

There are many reasons why students should have access to e-mail in school. Among the reasons are students use e-mail as a way of communicating with teachers, students use e-mail to transport computer-based projects from school to home and students who don’t have printers at home need e-mail at school to turn in assignments.

One of the arguments that’s sure to come up is that students can use a flash drive to transport work back and forth. The reason why flash drives have never worked for high school students involves the number of things they have to keep track of throughout the day. In high school, there is too much work, paper and bags to keep track of a little 1-inch-long flash drive.

A majority of students agree that e-mail is simply much more convenient than keeping track of where they left their flash drive.

Before the e-mail controversy unfolded, students quietly complained about how hard it is to do research with the Internet filter always getting in the way. This is especially annoying when you’re doing research on current events that may not be politically correct. Even though we get assigned these subjects to research, we can’t do the research in school because of all the Web sites that are blocked.

All in all, most students at WLC are frustrated with the fact that they can’t access their e-mail at school when they use it for academic purposes, and they hope something is done about it in the near future.

Abi Walsh is a sophomore at Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative High School.