West students are trying to access their favorite sites, like Spotify or Tik Tok, on their chromebook during a boring class or tired day, but come to see that the site is blocked. Some ask, “Why?” Well Mark Salzer, the Director of Integrated Technology and the PCCS Technology Team, filters out our internet access.

Our internet access is filtered because Plymouth-Canton Community Schools (PCCS) is a public school district, so they have to comply with both user agreements that state that users must be 13 or older. While some students are 13, the school can’t just pick and choose who can and can’t use certain sites. The district also has to follow the Children’s Internet Protection Act, which states that the district has to filter internet access. 

This is the main reason why our school blocks certain sites. We chose a very useful source for our interview. Mrs. Bone, beloved technology repair and service employee at West. In our interview, Mrs. Bone told us, “So, the technology team as a whole at Plymouth-Canton monitors and manages the activity, but ultimately it’s Mark Salzer, Director of Integrated Technology Systems.”

Sites that are targeted and have been blocked are Amazon, Spotify, Soundcloud, Discord, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. Sometimes it may seem as if our school is trying to take away our fun, but it really just goes to show how much they really care about us and have our best interests at heart.