Proxies: the very things that block a student’s favorite, or not so favorite, websites on computers, tablets, and phones. The proxies on the school computers and iPads are all run through a proxy hub on the school Wi-Fi that designates which websites are blocked and which ones are not.

“The web filter used by LISD categorizes websites into different categories based on the content of the website,” Director of Network and Technical Services David Oestricher said. “This is done by the web filter vendor. Since the internet is constantly changing, the web filter vendor sends updates to the categorization database multiple times a day.  LISD has decided to not allow certain categories, such as adult content, based on being inappropriate for children.”

Although what LISD is doing with the proxies is in the interest of students, sophomore Alyssa Sanders disagrees.

“The proxies definitely keep the viruses off of my iPad, so that’s a plus, but I get frustrated because a lot of the links I click on for research in class are blocked,” Alyssa said.

Social media such as Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr, when pulled up appear with the “red screen of death,” as some students refer to it. Occasionally, an educational website is even blocked unwittingly. Recently, a new problem with proxies has arisen. LISD has blocked iMessage. Despite the rumors about the cause of this, there is a logical reason.

“LISD has not purposefully blocked iMessage,” Oestricher said, “We know many students use iMessage and we believe it can be a valuable collaboration and communication tool.  Apple technical support has confirmed to us that the inability to use iMessage is in their systems and not with LISD.  We are actively working with Apple support and pushing for them to fix iMessage as soon as possible.”

At the moment, students in elementary and middle school have different, more restricting proxies than those in high school.

“I think the proxies should vary between different levels of school, like elementary, middle and high schools, because there are different maturity levels among students,” sophomore Hannah Gleason said.

And even though many students don’t agree with all of the proxies present on school equipment, they admit it would be hectic if there weren’t any at all.

“I feel like all hell would break loose,” Alyssa said. “There would be students using their iPads for inappropriate and non-school related things that the school shouldn’t be associated with.”

Although many different issues have popped up with the proxies since they have been used at the school, the school has the proxies to protect students in their best interest. If a parent has concerns or problems with a site not protected by proxies, they can send in a report to www.lisd.net/block.

“LISD has been working closely with Apple on how the iPad can better meet the needs of students,” Oestricher said.