If your school chooses to block the student use of Facebook or other social networks on your campus, read on.....
This fall ChildrenOnline.org has been conducting 1000's of surveys of students about their online behavior. I wanted to let you know that from every school we have collected data, the students are reporting that they have a way of getting around the
school filter to access sites like Facebook. I even discovered this simple "work-around" at my school early last spring. (We have St. Bernard's iPrism content filter.)
You might block Facebook.com but the kids have discovered that such a block is ONLY good for the http protocol and does not block https. So instead of using http, the students can simply type https://www.facebook.com and access their FB accounts. This
will also be the case at other sites that allow the https protocol. (Does Formspring.me use https?)
I don't know if this by-pass works to get around a SonicWall policy when that Sonicwall is also the main firewall that stands between the Internet and the school. The work-around seems to work best when a school has a firewall on the network in "proxy
mode". By the way, if your school has cell-phone service, the kids can also access their Facebook accounts through their smartphones such as the iPhone.
Never a dull moment.
Doug Fodeman
Co-Director, ChildrenOnline.org
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Douglas Fodeman
Director of Technology
Brookwood School
Manchester, MA 01944
http://www.Brookwood.edu
(978) 526-4500 X6233
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