Why Choose Cloud-Based Web Content Filtering for Schools?

Web access in educational settings can be a tricky subject. Children need to learn how to use the internet for research, since that will be the way they will need to do their research for college and later in their professional careers. What’s more, the internet opens up access to a great wealth of information to kids, not all of which is readily accessible in other ways. 

On the other hand, however, the internet also holds a lot of distraction, incorrect, and downright objectionable content that parents and teachers don’t want their kids to access in school. How can schools give kids access to the information that they need without exposing them to irrelevant, incorrect, or harmful material? Cloud-based web content filtering is the most straightforward answer. 

CIPA Compliance

Web content filtering keeps schools in compliance with important web safety laws for children.,

Schools and libraries that want to be eligible for discounted internet access or other programs need to be certain that they are in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 (CIPA). CIPA is an act passed by Congress that was designed to prevent children from accessing obscene and harmful content. In order to remain in compliance, schools need to have technology protection measures in place. A web content filtering program is ideal for this purpose. 

Schools should check to make sure that the filtering program they choose is CIPA compliant. That means that it will need to be capable of filtering out child pornography, obscene content, and images that are harmful to minors. The program also needs to provide school officials with the ability to monitor the online activity of minor students. 

Prevent Distractions

Content filtering programs prevent kids from being sidetracked from their studies by games and other distractions.

Harmful or objectionable content isn’t the only problem that teachers face when using the internet in school. Keeping kids on task when they have the entire internet at their fingertips is no easy job. What’s more, teachers often aren’t in a position to keep their eyes on every child’s screen at one time. Web content filtering allows teachers to keep their students on educational sites and off social media or gaming sites. This makes it possible for teachers to help students individually and not have to worry about watching the whole room’s internet activity at once.

Flexibility and Customization

Schools need flexibility in a web content filtering program, including the ability to easily add and remove sites from whitelists or blacklists. New websites pop up all the time, bringing with them new information or new distractions. A content filtering program designed with flexibility in mind helps schools ensure that they can quickly block the latest social media distraction before it becomes a problem. 

Schools may also want to be able to relax restrictions on occasion. For example, they may want to allow gaming sites during free periods that may be blocked at other times. Teachers and administrators may also find it necessary to block certain search terms or receive alerts for certain search terms used by students. A good web content filtering program for schools will offer the ability to do this kind of customization easily. 

Flexible, powerful content blocking for schools is an important tool to help ensure that students have safe access to the educational material they need, and avoid harmful content and content that distracts from their studies. To find out first-hand how web content filtering solutions work, take a free online test drive.