The website is blocked - ACCESS DENIED

Agghghgh!!!! The website is blocked!! (oh no, now they're tracking me. I'll bet they'll send me an email in a couple of minutes telling me they've been watching me....) But I really didn't mean it! I mispelled the word, or I'm not really looking for guns and drugs!!!

OK, let me put your mind at ease. "The District" is keeping a log of every website visited, by every computer. But this only means that it is being logged, just in case it needs to be looked up later, investigated, researched, or whatever. By law, "The District" has to keep a record of all web traffic for a certain period of time. Trust me, nobody is watching your computer all day long as you buy new picture frames for your house. But if they wanted to, they could pick a computer and see which sites were being surfed.

So here's what you see if you wanted to check your Yahoo Email account at school...



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Do you have illegal content in your mail? Probably not. Do you even have inappropriate content in your mail? Maybe not...

So why in the world would such an innocent site be blocked? Does "the district" even know what they're doing?

There are many reasons why web based mail is not allowed. Each day, or WSD mail gets a huge amount of spam, that is actually blocked. Spam contains viruses, spyware, and other threats to the safety of the network. Our email administrator has no way of blocking the spam that comes through your personal web based email such as Yahoo, Google, Hotmail.... This is the main reason among others that your web based email is blocked. Not because of funny video clips and jokes.

Also, think of it this way; If you were able to login, your PERSONAL username and password would be logged by "the district". You wouldn't really want somebody else to have your personal email password, would you?

HOW CAN I REQUEST TO HAVE A WEBSITE UNBLOCKED?

Good question, I'm glad you asked. At the moment, you can email a request to Alex K. Send him the web page link you need to have available, the REASON, and the category under which it was blocked in the first place.

Your request will be reviewed, and you will receive a reply. If the site contains any problems (sometimes only security people can see the threats...) then your request will be KINDLY rejected. You will not lose your job. You will not be reported to the authorities. Your picture will not be in the news.

Sometimes websites are blocked because there is a keyword there, such as "crack". If you wanted to show how to repair a crack in your concrete, the site may think "crack" meant "crack cocaine".... That is just an example, and so you are free to request that this site has nothing to do with drugs.

The bottom line is, if you're constantly upset because a website is not available, but it's perfectly safe, is it "the district's" fault? Or have you known about it for years but not told anybody? Please, if you think a site has value for your students, you are the first step to getting it unblocked. "The District" is made up of individuals like me who are inviting feedback for improvement. If staff members only talk amongst themselves, but not "the district", will "the district" find out about it?

I hope this helps. I constantly hear about websites being blocked, and my main response is, have you requested it to be unblocked? That is usually where it will end, and next week I will hear about the same site being blocked.... These requests need to go to Alex K. If I send them in for you, he will ask me "So, do YOU want this unblocked, or the teacher?"

Thanks everybody. I invite you all to send those requests, so your co-staff and students can benefit as well. If you have any questions on this topic, please reply below.