Many people at Broad Run have been slowly finding out about the continued censorship of various websites, as well as how certain words can get you sent to the counselors office. Many don’t, however, know exactly how it works and would probably like to. The continued restrictions online have been going on for some time, but now, in the 2024-2025 school year, they are at their peak. Students can hardly access as many images, educational videos are restricted, and the automatic filtering services aren’t entirely aware if what they’re restricting is actually worth restricting.
Flagging is a feature installed on the school issued devices where certain links or phrases in the search bar are not accessible. Usually, there’s a pop-up screen with an explanation for why you couldn’t access your desired internet destination at the bottom. Even teachers have this issue of searching up a word or phrase and then being unable to access it because of restrictions put on by the county. It isn’t the choice of the teachers, it isn’t the choice of the principal, and it most certainly isn’t the combined choice of the parents. The county policy that is put in place is good for making sure that people don’t search up inappropriate things during school or play games, but it can be limiting for people who are genuinely trying to research something or trying to use an innocent picture for a project.
Getting sent to the counselors for something you’re not aware you said is never fun. Most people aren’t even aware of the code words or phrases that could get you sent to the counselors office other than the really obvious ones. This feature was intended to be about the safety of the students and to make sure they’re doing well rather than restricting their right of speech. Gaggle, the application used for this purpose, is not very popular among the students that are aware of it. Junior Maliha Shaik think that “It’s like you restrict something, you flag it, so nobody can use it. Ever again.” Shaik also stated that she “feels like it restricts creativity”, as school issued devices are also used to write pieces for classes like Creative Writing and Journalism.
