Debate: Should schools block social networking sites?

Should schools block student's access to social networking sites?

Background and context

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Yes

• Social networking sites are a major distraction to students in classrooms with computers or wireless internet. Students that are on social networking sites in schools are distracted from real learning. They may be in a classroom during a lecture and have their laptop out, considered acceptable and useful for note-taking, but are instead browsing friends' profiles on a social networking site. Students can easily get away with this because their screens generally face away from the professor and lecturer. The temptation is apparently too great to resist, and it is unreasonable to expect that teachers can somehow regulate this problem effectively; they can't walk around the room constantly checking what is on students' screens. This problem is so widespread, so unresolvable by other means, and so unfortunate to quality education, that it is reasonable for schools to take the decisive step of blocking student access to these sites through school or classroom computers or over local area wireless networks in the classroom.

No

• Social networking sites can be beneficial in the classroom for the exchange of information.

• Social networking sites can be an interesting environment for class groups to meet.

• Students should be taught responsible practices, instead of being blocked outright from these sites.

• Social networking sites help people keep in touch. Social networking sites are a great way to keep in touch with relatives or friends currently residing far away.

Are social networking sites responsible for increase in social and psychological problems among the youth?

Yes

No

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Yes

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No

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Yes

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No

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See also

• Debate: Should employers ban the use of social networking sites at work?
• Debate: New Media
• Debate: Myspace is your space
• Debate: Are social networking sites a great distraction from education?
• Debate: Facebook news feed and privacy
• Debate: Social networking sites should not allow users under 18

External links and resources

• Sara Bernard. "Should schools regulate student use of online social networks?". Edutopia. Retrieved 11.28.07