The Lewisville Independent School District released its list of banned iPad applications mid-August before school started. Although apps have been banned and un-banned many times since LISD bought the devices for all of its schools two years ago, this is the first time a comprehensive list of many of the “unacceptable apps” has been shown to the public.

“There are two main reasons that these apps are banned,” Assistant Principal Joseph Bracket said. “One of the reasons is because they don’t have an educational purpose.”

Many games, such as the widely popular Clash of Clans, have been reviewed by the district and were deemed unacceptable for school and too distracting for students.

“The other main reason these apps are ‘unacceptable’ is because they can promote behavior that is not acceptable in school,” Bracket said. “Activities such as speaking to strangers and being able to hide your identity to be mean to or bully other students are definitely not acceptable because they can put students in danger.”

Many social media apps such as Instagram, Yik-Yak, and Tumblr were banned for such reasons.

“While I can’t definitively say if there will be more apps put on the banned list, because there are so many new apps being invented and developed, I can see more being added.”

While the younger LISD elementary students who largely do not have other devices such as laptops and smartphones cannot use the banned apps in school or at home, the older middle and high school students who do have access to other devices are only limited at school and can use them at home.