Internet Safety

I get it — the internet is a vast, endless space filled with everything and anything. When you have such a broad tool, there are definitely just as many downsides as there are upsides. Internet safety is definitely a priority for all of us, and I think that as each generation matures we realize what is smart and what is not so smart to do on the internet. For instance, back when I was in 6th grade I can recall how HUGE MySpace was becoming, and how many news stories there were about predators. Maybe it was because MySpace was a very..... trashy.... social media, but I feel like you don't hear as many stories about teens making bad decisions as you used to. Ah, but I digress.
In high school, I would say that roughly 60% of the websites I would try to access on school computers were blocked for one reason or another. But why? is it because buried deep in the archives of that website there was a swear word? Who knows. But the point is that on all these sites I never got to access, there was probably very useful information — information that I will never know of (because realistically, the second I walked out of the computer lab I was never going to go look for that website again because I found a substitute).
I think that while safety is important, schools need to advance their means of blocking websites because ultimately they are hurting students. The point of the internet is for people to share information and absorb information. Should a student have access to every website out there while at school? Absolutely not. However, I think the schools need to put more time into advancing their firewalls because they are currently blocking too much. The internet is a great place and can be used in so many great ways. Schools should keep their students safe all the while maintaining access to more content.