The following are real student responses from an international survey we conducted during Summer 2015.
1. “You don’t get rude ads or viruses.”
Pop-ups and pseudo-content are not only annoying, but also often times dangerous. Online aggressors specifically target children, enticing them to click on attractive advertisements or links leading to viruses. YouTube launched “YouTube Kids” in response to this problem as an addition to their existing safety setting, YouTube Restrictive Mode. But what about the rest of the internet? Web filtering helps keep students safe online and protects from “intrusive viruses, malware, and ransomware”.
2. “It keeps us safe from other people that we don’t know.”
Students are protected from dicey websites and chat forums notorious for online predators. This, combined with social media privacy settings – such as regulating who can comment on a post/video– reduces the risk of your child encountering internet users with malicious intent.
See the Parental Control Quick Guide for more information on keeping youth safe online.
3. “It protects people from cyberbullying.”
Web filtering can block social media sites where cyberbullying frequently occurs, but in today’s tech-integrated environment these sites are important for school-wide communication; and thus, counterproductive to restrict. Securly includes a Bullying and Self Harm Detection feature with sentiment analysis that alerts parents and admins of possible cyberbullying/indications of harmful behavior.
4. “A big thing I agree with is stopping us from getting sidetracked…it can be hard in class when we are on the internet to not get distracted.”
Admins can set time limits on specific sites to help keep students on track and productive; in fact, over 50% of students admitted to being sidetracked while working on school assignments whether on or offline. Another student remarked, “Web filtering is good because if things weren’t filtered, personally I wouldn’t have done as well in school. I would be more interested in talking to my friends over social media while they were in different classes.”
5. “It’s extremely useful to monitor and prevent younger kids from seeing all that the internet has to offer.”
Web filtering first and foremost protects children from violence, porn, and other unsavory content. Students (especially with younger siblings) agree that this is a necessary and useful tool in preventing premature exposure. Securly’s powerful web filtering technology filters out unsuitable material and language, and even goes as far as disabling YouTube comments on a child’s account.
6. “It provides an environment to practice hacking and getting around the rules.”
Definitely a different perspective, but still a valid point! Apparently, persistent students are learning about the technology behind the filter… looks like web filtering is also creating future developers.
7. “It provides safety throughout the whole school for everyone. And as well as making us children feel safe whilst using the internet, it also helps parents to know their child is safe whilst browsing.”
Securly offers an interactive comprehensive report which complies top accessed categories, websites, and key search phrases by kids. Admins are able to see how students are using devices at home versus in school. It’s quite simple for admins to make changes to the filter settings on the user dashboard.
In addition, Securly’s cloud-based web filtering also extends to the home. Schools with 1:1 programs are able protect their students anywhere.
8. “It stops anything that may be dangerous from happening.”
Some students have such faith in the power of web filtering! Learn more about Securly web filtering features here.
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