Creating a Worry-Free Web

As the numbers of Web sites and online networking tools, such as instant messaging and peer-to-peer file sharing, grow exponentially, schools nationwide have concluded that they can’t leave their students and faculties exposed to the wilds of the Internet. Concerns over legal liability, network security, student productivity and bandwidth have prompted even the most liberal schools to seek protection. And with the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Supreme Court’s decision last summer to uphold the law and require libraries to filter Web content or risk losing federal funds, the question is no longer whether to filter Web content, it’s how stringent filters must be to meet schools’ goals.

Deciding what content to block is just the first of many issues that need to be addressed. Other issues include: Will schools keep Web-use logs? If so, what will they do with them? Who will have access to them? Should all students and faculty have the same access rights? Should Web access be limited to certain hours, lengths of time or bandwidth limits? And what are the consequences if Web policies are violated?

“It’s much less expensive to establish an ePolicy program than it is to go to court and settle a lawsuit to the tune of $6 million or $7 million—or to get a virus or worm that destroys your hard drive,” says Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute in Columbus, Ohio.

Taking Responsibility

Just imagine a teacher projecting the Internet to her classroom, inadvertently clicking a link and winding up with pop-up ads for inappropriate sites that multiply faster than he or she can close them. It’s a scenario that Annab wasn’t about to let happen at Valley Christian Schools.

The schools had Internet access for four years before using Web filters. However, since the number of computers was limited and they were all under faculty supervision, there were few problems. As

Valley Christian’s network grew, Annab knew it was time to protect both students and faculty from offensive Web content.

Before buying a Web filter, Annab had to tread a thin line. Some parents wanted filters, but others were opposed to limiting access. Annab liked the flexibility offered by SurfControl’s Web Filter, since it let him add or subtract to the school’s list of blocked sites. It even enabled him to give limited access to groups that need to visit sites for specific school activities.

Annab says he can count on one hand the number of times a teacher has complained about being blocked from a legitimate site. For those few occurrences, he was able to easily review the sites and allow access if he decided the sites were appropriate. In most cases, the filters require little, if any, intervention on his part.

Valley Christian Schools ban peer-to-peer file sharing, which helps preserve network bandwidth. It has also shielded the school and its students from the recording industry’s recent spate of file-sharing lawsuits. Annab also blocks instant messaging, which he believes hinders student productivity. Multimedia controls automatically log off users after they reach a certain byte threshold.

Annab says Web Filter has a robust reporting feature, which enables him to get individual or macro views by groups, departments, users, bandwidth, time or sites visited. In addition, he can share the reports with teachers so they can determine how productive their classes are.

Annab even gets real-time e-mail alerts when users go to inappropriate sites. So, for instance, if a student checks his e-mail during class, which is against school policy, Annab can call and warn the teacher that the student might not be engaged in the classroom’s activity.

A big problem for schools is that students inevitably try to break the rules. Since most of them have grown up with computers, many are savvy enough to get around Web filters, warns Bill Gassman, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner. “It’s a game,” he says.

So far, none of the students at Valley Christian have managed to outsmart the filters, Annab reports. Vigilance is critical, he adds. “There are some really disturbing images out on the Internet,” he warns. “I would always err on the side of being too conservative as opposed to being too liberal.”

Most schools block what Web filtering vendor Websense refers to as the “sinful six”: adult material, gambling, illegal/questionable content, racism/hate sites, tasteless material and violence. Beyond that, schools can choose what types of content they want to block.

If schools don’t want to block some sites completely, they can create a screen that warns users that a particular site doesn’t appear to be appropriate, but, if it is, they can proceed. That reminds both the faculty and the students that they are being monitored. Alternatively, schools may let users access certain sites for only 30 minutes or only after school hours.

Annab’s final advice for school administrators investigating Web filtering tools is to choose fully customizable solutions that can change as needs evolve.