Online and off-limits: Students flouting filters

[TexasStooge]

Schools struggle to seal off access to stuff, games, e-mail

By KAREN AYRES / The Dallas Morning News

Where there is a school Internet filter, there is a way around it.

School districts everywhere are failing to keep tech-savvy teens from reaching banned e-mail, games and social networking sites such as MySpace.com.

The losing battle also challenges schools to live up to federal laws that require them to block sites that offer obscene material, pornography and other material deemed harmful to minors.

It's a game of cat and mouse – in cyberspace.

When Mike Snyder wants to play Tetris in computer class, he logs onto a special Web site, connects to another student's home server and then taps into a gaming site, easily slipping past the filter's eye.

"You just have to be 10 percent smarter than what you're working with," said Mike, 18, a senior at North Garland High School. "[The filters] make it a little bit harder, but they're not a big deal."

The rise of so-called proxy Web sites, which allow students to make indirect connections to off-limits sites, is giving students an advantage in the struggle over Internet access in schools nationwide.

Some school districts are buying newer, faster and smarter filters, but educators say people – not technology – are the key to protecting students from child predators and other evils on the Web.

"We have thousands of attempts per day to hack into the district or get around the filters," said Andy Berning, chief technology officer for Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, which just bought a new filter that costs $20,000 a year to service. "We have to rely on the human being because our filters aren't perfect."

The Children's Internet Protection Act requires districts to provide a filter and an Internet use policy in order to receive E-rate federal funding, which helps pay for technology in many school districts.

But, educators say, installing the filters is one thing; eliminating breaches in the system is another.

"It's a constant struggle with trying to enforce the law and dealing with the students who have an agenda to break the law," said Stan Maige, director of technology in the Garland ISD, which is working on a new proxy-blocking site that will probably be in use by next year.

Most districts in the Dallas area use filtering services designed to block sites such as those catering to hate groups or offering adult material. To keep up with new troublesome sites, lists are updated every day.

"We're trying to stay up with the kids," said Ron Smith, who runs technical services for the Highland Park ISD. "Whatever we block today, there will be 10 more tomorrow."

When a student searches for a banned topic such "pornography" or tries to surf to the Playboy site, the request is supposed to be stopped at the server and promptly denied.

But proxy Web sites allow students to indirectly connect to blocked sites without alerting the filters. Rather than typing in My Space.com, a student can enter the name of a proxy site and then travel to MySpace.

It's like asking an operator to connect a phone call rather than calling someone directly. In this case, the filters don't know who is being called.

Though filtering systems constantly block popular proxy sites, new ones pop up every day, making it next to impossible for the filters to keep up.

"Proxy Web sites are one of the biggest problems that exist right now in the K-12 market," said Mr. Smith, who is investigating a product for the Highland Park ISD that would stop connections to proxy sites.

David Cano, who runs the popular KProxy.com, said the purpose of his site is to avoid censorship. He also said MySpace.com and other sites typically banned in schools are his most popular hits.

Mike Newman of Websense, a filtering company used by Dallas and other school districts, said the company classifies 15 million Web sites into 90 categories, including one for proxy sites. If a student goes to a site that is not on the list, the company checks it out and categorizes it, he said.

"It's very difficult to beat the system," said Mr. Newman, who said he thinks that some students may be overstating their ability to circumvent the barriers.

Ivette Cruz Weis, a spokeswoman for DISD, said the district ensures that the latest database from Websense is downloaded every night to help prevent new inappropriate materials from reaching any user.

'A constant battle'

Students say they have other tricks.

They can create their own home sites that allow them to "tunnel" through the districts' filters at school. Parents, who are also increasingly turning to filters at home, often know little about the work-arounds.

"I'm pretty sure the schools do everything they can," said Holly Trester, whose daughters go to school in the Plano ISD. "It's a constant battle."

Some students also boast of changing settings on their computers and their Internet browsers to get past school filters. When teachers catch on to their tactics, they find new routes. Those who get caught sometimes lose their Internet privileges or face other punishment.

"They're almost making it entertaining to get around the system," said Matt Grossman, 18, a senior at Plano West Senior High School.

Sometimes attempts aren't very advanced. In Blue Ridge in rural Collin County, 11-year-old Mallorie Burnside recently saw pornography at school after a classmate searched for the word "sex" on Xanga.com. Until then, the district thought pornography was blocked. The district has since changed its filter settings.

"Our computer-literate children are very good at figuring out how to get some place," said Jim Shurtleff, Blue Ridge ISD's superintendent. "Being from the generation I am, I feel good if I can put in a search word and find the information I need."

'It's all MySpace'

For the most part, students say they are interested in e-mail and social networking sites such as MySpace.com, a teen phenomenon that allows youngsters to post messages to each other.

"It's all MySpace," said Amber Jarassri, 17, a senior at North Garland High School. "We don't care about anything else."

Tightening filters to deal with the problem can bring unintended consequences.

Educators and students alike say the technology already blocks many legitimate Web sites, a hiccup that could get worse with stricter filters.

Arnold Delgado, 18, a senior at Berkner High School in Richardson, said he was recently denied access to several sites while working on an English project about Ernest Hemingway.

The solution, school leaders say, is to rely on people rather than technology to enforce the rules. They must train teachers to recognize banned sites and to tailor their assignments for the Internet so that youngsters aren't just surfing the Web at will.

But most important, they say, schools need focus on students and the decisions they make at the keyboard.

"Really. the only effective filter is one we build into kids' minds and hearts to help them be self-selecting," said Doug Johnson, a school librarian in Minnesota who has written several books on the digital age. "The mechanical filters, in my mind, are sufficiently ineffective [that] we may as well not be using them at all."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... c31b6.html
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Off-limits content:

- Pornography (DUH!)

- Gambling (DUH!)

- Social networking

- Games

- Hate (DUH!)

- Commerce

- E-mail

- Violence (DUH!)

- Drugs (DUH!)

- Alcohol (DUH!)

[gtalum]

The whole idea of filtering is silly because any kid can easily get around any filter put in place.

[CajunMama]

Anyone can do anything, filter or no filter...we have members who've been banned sneaking back on with different ips and screen names.

[HurryKane]

Yeah. And filters, like someone said in the article, just make it entertaining to get around them.