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"The Internet is often seen as a doubled-edge sword in that it offers a wealth of relevant, useful information to students of all
ages, but is also home to other types of material that is more unlawful in nature," said Jerry Rabinowitz, technology coordinator for Avon Grove School District, which provides online access to more than 5,000
students. "By selecting Websense Enterprise, we are confident that our students won't be faced with accidental exposure to inappropriate sites, and can therefore use the Web more productively."
One of the issues with enforcing Web use in schools is making sure Web content is categorized correctly in the Web filter's database.
Some of the school districts tested alternative filtering solutions, including CyberSitter, SurfWatch, N2H2 and CyberSnoop. However, these competing solutions relied heavily on keyword blocking, or offered
insufficient databases of Web sites, which school district IT administrators found unreliable and unacceptable, particularly in learning environments. Websense Enterprise, however, offers a comprehensive and
flexible database of more than 4 million Web sites encompassing 1 billion Web pages.
"In order to maintain compliance with CIPA, we tested several filtering solutions, but found Websense Enterprise to be the most
customizable and accurate in terms of its robust database," said Eric Paulson, director of technology for the Oxford School District, which provides online access to more than 750 students. "We aim to
provide Internet access that is resourceful yet safe from inappropriate and sometimes dangerous content that can be found on the Web. Websense Enterprise lets us do just that with very little effort on our
part."
Most schools had already asked students and faculty to sign an "acceptable use" Internet policy; however, in conjunction
with CIPA, district educators needed a method by which the written policy could be enforced. Once installed, several districts also took advantage of Websense Enterprise's "quotas" and "defer"
features, which allow faculty and staff members limited amounts of time per day to surf non-work-related Web sites or the ability to access restricted, yet acceptable, sites after school hours. This gives schools
flexibility in managing employee use of personal Web surfing, while eliminating access to those sites that could create legal liabilities.
Excessive Web use not only decreases productivity, but also slows down network connectivity. Most of the school districts in
Pennsylvania block what is known as the "sinful six" – Web sites relating to adult, race/hate, violence, tasteless, gambling and inappropriate content. Some districts are even managing access to
Premium Group sites, which include instant messaging, freeware/shareware, message boards, pay-to-surf, Internet radio/TV and peer-to-peer file sharing – which all consume significant amounts of bandwidth.
However, since deploying Websense Enterprise, all of the school districts indicated recovering network bandwidth, which enables faster connectivity to legitimate Web sites.
"Websense Enterprise has simplified our Internet-access management processes and has enabled a seamless integration with our
existing network infrastructure," said Michael Bowe, network specialist for the Downingtown School District, which provides online access to more than 3,000 students. "By not only saving bandwidth, but
increasing overall student and faculty productivity, Websense Enterprise has proven to be much smarter and more reliable than the other competing solutions we evaluated."
By utilizing Websense Enterprise, educators and students across Pennsylvania can focus on using the Internet for school-related
purposes without having to worry about the inappropriate content that exists on the Web. Not only do school districts remain CIPA compliant by using Websense Enterprise, but they also benefit from increased
bandwidth and improved network performance.
Pennsylvania school districts mentioned include Avon Grove, Downington, Nashaminy, and Oxford.
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