This article has been subject to prior review by administration.

    On Oct. 27, a number of websites were blocked on school-issued devices for students across Shorecrest. From Spotify to ChatGPT, these blockages left students confused and angry.

     Later in the same day, the Information and Technology (IT) and Educational Technology (Ed Tech) Departments reinstated some of the previously-blocked websites after internal discussions.      

     Sophomore Victoria Anderson was shocked and frustrated when she found she could no longer access the tools she used on a regular basis.      

     “I listen to [Spotify] a lot because it helps me focus. So when I saw that it was blocked, I was sad and stressed about it,” Anderson said.

     Questions of “Why were they blocked?” and “Why can we use them again?” have circulated throughout campus, but now there are answers.

     “This week, the Ed Tech Department was reviewing the current list of blocked sites and applications. A new list of recommended sites to block was completed and sent to the IT Department for discussion,” Dean of Faculty & Curriculum Dr. Anna Baralt said. “IT, which handles the filtering system, mistakenly thought the list was the final-approved list and went ahead and implemented the blocks on the network.”

     That recommended list included websites such as Amazon and Pinterest, as well as streaming services like Hulu and Disney+.  Netflix had been restricted prior to the recent blocking spree.          

     Baralt said streaming platforms were blocked because they “are ‘bandwidth heavy’ and can slow down the network.”

     However, many of the sites became available again the same day they were blocked.

     “Students saw previously-used sites suddenly blocked before the full approval process was finished. The teams met on Tuesday to clarify the confusion and review the block list. Some sites were reopened, like Spotify, while others remained blocked, like Hulu and Disney+, due to high bandwidth use for video streaming,” Dr. Baralt said.

    On Oct. 31, days after the initial blocks, students noticed ChatGPT was restricted once again. The popular AI chatbot remains blocked on Shorecrest-issued computers as of the writing of this story. 

     “ChatGPT was reviewed and kept on the block list for privacy and security reasons,” Baralt said.

     However, Gemini, an AI chatbot powered by Google, remains available on Shorecrest computers. The site may have been down for about an hour or two while the IT Department was adjusting domain permissions.

     “Gemini AI does not use its prompts or its responses as data to train its model,” Baralt said.

     ChatGPT, on the other hand, collects the prompts its users submit to fine-tune its models, which could be seen as a safety threat, especially to students. Children under 13 cannot use ChatGPT, while those between 13 and 17 need parental consent according to the policies of OpenAI, the owner and developer of ChatGPT.

     Shorecrest may block more websites in the future if it is deemed necessary, but there are no plans to evaluate additional websites at this time.

     “Issues with network performance, network security, student safety and educational policies may require additional sites to be blocked,” Baralt said.  “Deciding what sites to block at Shorecrest is a multi-tiered approach involving many different policies and factors.”

     Sites that are candidates to be blocked are ones that are digital trends which are non-educational and could strain the school’s network, such as Roblox; ones that pose a risk of viruses or data breaches; ones that use a lot of data and could slow down the network with high usage and ones that certain school faculty consider inappropriate for educational purposes.

     “Non-educational sites are always the first to be blocked to ensure our network is running smoothly,” Baralt said.

     The decision-making process for blocking websites at Shorecrest is a collaborative effort including the IT and Ed Tech departments, which block sites for technical reasons, as well as teachers and administrators, who can request a site be blocked if it is inappropriate or distracting to students. 

     Despite the initial scare, students including Anderson felt relieved to have access to at least some of their favorite websites once again.

     “I’m extremely glad they unblocked everything,” Anderson said, “because I may have shed a tear.”