With the advent of Artificial Intelligence-powered content-filtering technology, in the 2024-25 academic year P-CEP has ushered in a new program for sifting through computer searches to determine whether or not the information found is deemed appropriate for student access.
The district implemented multiple levels of internet filtering, the most basic of which is a universal network filter that extends to all devices connected to the P-CCS network, regardless of who owns the device.
Mark Salzer, P-CCS’ Executive Director of Integrated Technology Systems, and Daniel Clancey, the district Network and Data Security Administrator, operate the content-filtering processes in our schools.
“Anybody that connects to our network has a filtered experience,” said Salzer, “so whether you have a district-managed device that we issued or you have your own Macbook, Windows, whatever–if you’re using our network to gain access to the internet, we have a filter in place.”
Outside of Wi-Fi monitoring, 2 other programs currently in use also take filtering measures. “We actually implement two different filters,” Clancey said.
“We have a FortiGate firewall which does category-based web filtering for all devices,” said Clancey. “We also use Linewize filtering, which primarily targets Chromebooks. So every Chromebook that we own will have Linewize on it, so that no matter if it’s on-site or off-site, it’ll be filtered.”
“We try our best to mirror the two policies so that you have the same exact experience no matter what device you’re on and no matter where you are,” Clancey said.
Linewize’s parent company is Qoria, an Australian technology company launched in 2015 with the intention of making the internet safer for kids. The service was unavailable in the U.S. until the North American division of Qoria was created in 2019, growing with the expansion to international operations.
New and controversial, AI is used as part of the process to filter content for Linewize’s patrons, according to its website.
Put simply, Linewize employees categorize internet content. Next, the district declares whether or not students should have access to each category of information. Then, the AI-powered program blocks content recognized as inappropriate in accordance with the district’s standards.
“The big, different categories are education, information, technology, and games, so we’re able to, in a large swath, block or allow [content] based on those categories. We determine which categories to block based on content and how it is intended,” said Clancey.
Then, based on those categories, the program, which the district pays “for access to definitions and categorization and basically, people, to kind of evaluate a category,” said Salzer.
“So [Linewize is] evaluating as sites are being introduced, and they’re saying, ‘Oh, this is this’ or ‘This is that’ and they put it in the [respective] category. We go in and say, ‘We don’t want to have weapons,’ or ‘We don’t want to have pornography,’ or whatever the category is that we choose.”
When a new webpage is encountered, “[Linewize] categorize[s] it, and if it happens to be in a category that we’re saying we don’t want, then people aren’t able to get to it,” said Salzer.
After the employees at Linewize categorize websites, new and old, the AI system then interprets the wishes of the district and blocks sites accordingly.
The ability of AI systems, like Linewize, to sort through thousands of websites and search results has become “easier and more streamlined,” according to Clancey, and the technology continues to be refined.
A 2023 paper from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore argues that “We must be open and ready for the possibility that AI may not always lead to accurate outcomes or arrive at conclusions that fully capture the nuances of human judgment.” The study suggests AI systems should “be developed and trained to take into account our rights and interests…and reflect our shared understanding of these rights and interests, free from any biases on the part of those who develop and train AI systems.”
Due to the addition of the filtering processes, Park students face an increased amount of challenges while doing research on both school-owned and student-owned devices.
“I’ve noticed that I can’t go to certain websites like Quora and some YouTube videos too,” said Canton freshman Brynn Endo.
Many art reference sites are currently blocked as well, including Pinterest, which has frustrated students looking for creative inspiration. “I’m an art student. I do a lot of things, relatively, with media that is displaying, yes, nudity,” said Plymouth senior Cye Dioso. “But the thing is, Pinterest is a very helpful tool, and that’s what a lot of teachers use and suggest to us.”
Frustrated students might wonder why creative websites like Pinterest would even be considered for content blocking.
“Districts and even libraries are responsible to protect their patrons, in this case, our students, from what’s deemed objectionable content. Some sites, we had principals reach out and say, ‘As we’re seeing a growing trend that this, whatever site is distracting to our students. ‘Would you please block it?’” said Salzer. “In that instance, even though we would have normally allowed it, because it was interfering with the educational environment and instructional leaders were asking, ‘Could you please?’” we acted by blocking it.”
Student complaints aside, teachers have also noticed some differences between the device filtering system from the current year to the previous year.
“The two courses that I teach are AP Literature and AP Language, and in years past, I’ve been able to link a short story or something like that for students in the fall,” said Patricia Snyder, Salem English teacher. “For the first time, I came across lots of issues with students not being able to access content that they have been able to access in years past,” the AP English teacher said.
“So I noticed that the firewall or the filtering system seems to be a lot stricter than it used to be. And, you know, as a teacher, I’m the one who’s in charge of picking content that is appropriate for my students. But sometimes things would be blocked, and we weren’t totally sure why,” said Snyder.
The course material for a class like Advanced Placement Literature, which is designed to be a collegiate level course, occasionally fails to get past the filters in place at P-CCS.
“Schools have a responsibility to provide safe learning environments for students, and that does mean that there is content out there on the very unfiltered internet that is not appropriate for students to see or to use, but because I’m teaching students adult-level content, sometimes that means that what is fine for an AP Literature student maybe isn’t recommended for the rest of the academic population,” said Snyder.
Though high school students might find issues with internet access, P-CEP students are subjected to a much less restrictive version of the content filter compared to the browsing experience had by middle and elementary schoolers at P-CCS. “There are some slight differences depending on grade level. So elementary is a little bit more strict than middle school, which is a little bit more strict than high school,” said Clancey.
Not only are the filters made distinctive between each grade level, but the system also allows teachers to enjoy more leeway than students have with their web browsing.
“We make available some sites that staff can get to, but they have to be on a particular network. So [while] staff have a more liberal access to the internet, it’s still filtered,” said Salzer. “We’re still restricting some things, but they have a much wider latitude.”
Teachers and students alike can request a site to become unblocked through a reporting process that can be accessed when one encounters a blocked search result.
“One of the benefits with Linewize is we are able to give teachers more autonomy for unblocking websites. You know, there’s numerous teachers that like to leverage educational games as a learning resource within the classroom, so teachers have the ability to select categories, nothing that is mature content or potentially malicious content, to override a block during a class period,” said Clancey.
“Outside of that, if a student thinks, you know, ‘I should be able to go to this website,’ they can request it either through the prompt when it says ‘You’re blocked,’ or they can say, ‘Hey,’ you know, whoever their teacher is, ‘I think that this website should be unblocked,’ and then the teacher will be able to submit it for review.”
Just as AI is used by Linewize, students and staff alike are realizing the educational and practical uses for Artificial Intelligence.
“From my perspective, I think AI is a great tool. I think in the future, it’ll be leveraged quite a bit,” said Clancey
“However, right now, in its somewhat infancy, there’s a lot of concerns surrounding it. There’s a lot of AI tools that, by default, essentially opt you into them, being able to use any information or any kind of input that you give them as training data and that’s saved, and they can do with it as they please,” said Clancey.
“In order to protect our students and staff, we opt to block all the [AI programs] that we don’t have very much control over,” Clancey said.
In addition, Salzer said, “We look at the terms of use and the privacy policy for them, and if they say, ‘To use this, you have to be 13 or older or 18 or older’…well, we’re not going to violate that term knowingly.”
“And this goes for not just AI, but everything. But yes, we recognize that AI is a very powerful and useful in many ways, tool,” said Salzer.
Students or even staff may wonder what the line is between content filtering and censorship.
“Censorship, it’s more political-based where you’re trying to prevent a voice from being heard, as opposed to content filtering. We’re essentially an entity that is responsible for the well-being of our students, many of whom are underage, and by law, we have to adhere to certain rules to make sure that our students aren’t exposed to potentially explicit material,” said Clancey.
“[Censorship] is more about suppression as opposed to protection.”
