Hello, EC! So, my school has been homophobic in the past, trying to close GSA's, pulling BS statements like 'They cannot have a radical symbol (Rainbow flag) hanging in the hallways.' and things. Nonetheless, we have persevered, but now they are blocking LGBT+ websites under the argument that they are 'Pornographic'. That includes EC! I was wondering, is there any way I can stop this? And also, do any of you have the same problem? Thanks!
That's sad to hear! Is your school a public school? I'm not really sure how all this works, I'm sorry but you could look into the censorship laws for public schools. ---------- Post added 4th Nov 2015 at 10:34 AM ---------- Perhaps you could try talking to school staff about specific sites like this one and tell them that it is not pornographic and therefor they shouldn't block it. (I'm pretty sure specific sites can be unblocked, at least with my school's filter software). But of course that's still up to their opinions to some extent.
Hello, Our school is supportive of LGBT+ - way more supportive of this than anything else - but has a very strict security system, just educational websites only. Maybe show them this website and get them only to block the pornographic areas of here [if there is any, I don't know].
I know this won't be a popular reply... but it should be blocked. There is a lot of talk about sex and when your in school you should be learning about your classes. If you wish to look up EC it should be at home where the school is not responsible for what students view.
My school restricts those types of websites too because they're either categorized as 'adult' or 'forums'. Of course, it doesn't do a good job at restricting websites I've gone on when it's about drugs.
My school blocks no site (that I have gone on) on their wifi. One can have anything, they will just be hated or suspended. If you have anything that disagrees with them, like a non KJV Bible, it will be told to get replaced if found out. They also blame 'the gays' for many things. They say many things are gay. They say the world will end in a year every year. They imply I am gay. If we had a GSA, all people in it would be punished (we had clubs replaced with basically the opposite, hour long anti lbgt chapels).
There are several ways to get past blocked websites. I think one way is logging into your own google account on a Chrome laptop (if your school uses those) and get to any website you want. Another way is to just turn off the safety settings. It's usually possible.
My school blocks a few lgbt websites, but they are probably an accident or contain too much inappropriate stuff. One way we get past it is foxy proxy on chrome.
There was a similar situation when I was at school - while I can understand the blocking of things like forums on school computers, at my school it was more or less any LGBT+ content, flagged as 'Alternative Lifestyles'. The flag thing is ridiculous, though. 'Radical symbols'? Wow. My response to my school's oh-so-'traditional' ways was to make a very civil and persistent ruckus with the senior staff. It didn't get me far (I was in my last year at that school and they used it to justify shutting down my proposal of starting a GSA) so I can't speak for effectiveness, but if you have people in numbers that helps!
The main problem with this site is that many schools do not allow access to forums, so this is generally blocked for being a forum. Also, a lot of these filter sites consider LGBT stuff in the damage catagory as pornogrophy. This also causes sites to be blocked. So, the big problem is the classification system of blocking. This blocks other useful things as well. I was trying to do a report on gun safety when I was in school and everything was blocked because of violence. So, until there is a more reliable way to determine the content of sites, this is something that is going to keep happening unfortunally.
My school's always been homophobic, being a catholic school, but no one actually cares. There are rumours of people being called to the principal's office for being LGBT (somewhat true) and LGBT is a very hush-hush topic here, but I do feel it's for naught. My school has a 'school wifi'-meaning that it blocks porn. That's all that I have found that it blocks. We don't use the computers, but there are iPads in very public places, and wifi that students can use (hack) into are at the classroom blocks. Stuff like EC isn't blocked, but I will bet that we are being tracked on what we use in class. However, in your case, I do think you should speak to the teachers on banning GSAs-it's a support group for people who are often outcasts. It does help in personal development in the sense that it brings people of the same mindset together to support a group. I do support your school's decision on banning LGBT forums, though-I haven't been around other LGBT forums, but I will bet that it isn't as organized as it is here. Forums as such shouldn't be accessed in schools, as it is a form of 'entertainment' and does distract the students. I'm not very sure how your school works, but mine doesn't allow phones in class, so we only can use them when there are no teachers. As such it dosen't really affect classes much, but if you your school allows the use of cells and such in class, even with teachers, I do kinda understand why they want to ban these types of forums. (If it really is their intention, though, ask if other forums (non LGBT ones) are also being banned. If not, ask them, if EC and such is being banned, why not the others?) I suggest getting the reason why they are becoming anti-LGBT, and if you think it's really needed, ask them to ban non-LGBT stuff if they fall under the same 'cause' your school is trying to promote. Talking to the teachers on why it's anti-LGBT will be the first step, I feel...
Well I've never tried it because I don't really want people to find out that I'm not straight and that I'm on here, so I think hiding EC from the outside world is a pretty good idea. But I'm finding out tomorrow now...
I go to a public school and literally the only websites I have seen blocked are Playboy and 4chan- things that actually should be blocked, imo. We also have an awesome GSA with, iirc, lots of members. They went on a field trip two weeks ago.
well I understand this being blocked as a forum but not cos its lgbt. I know its not blocked at my school but we have a really big gsa and a couple of non straight teachers even.
To be honest, why would you need to be browsing EC in school anyway? That's something you should do at home, or in a non-school scene. School isn't a place to be browsing the local LGBT (Or any) forum. I'm torn, because on one hand, I get the reasoning to fight it, but on the other, it's not the school's job to make sure you enjoy your web browsing experience there. EC may be a support site for us, but Chit Chat of all places isn't usually the support section itself. In fact, some of the things we talk about here can go a little bit over the PG-13 rating that this forum likes to keep, so that's also another valid reason to block the site. These are just my two cents though, so do with that what you will.
To be honest, why would you need to be browsing EC in school anyway? That's something you should do at home, or in a non-school scene. School isn't a place to be browsing the local LGBT (Or any) forum. I'm torn, because on one hand, I get the reasoning to fight it, but on the other, it's not the school's job to make sure you enjoy your web browsing experience there. EC may be a support site for us, but Chit Chat of all places isn't usually the support section itself. In fact, some of the things we talk about here can go a little bit over the PG-13 rating that this forum likes to keep, so that's also another valid reason to block the site. These are just my two cents though, so do with that what you will.
To be honest, why would you need to be browsing EC in school anyway? That's something you should do at home, or in a non-school scene. School isn't a place to be browsing the local LGBT (Or any) forum. I'm torn, because on one hand, I get the reasoning to fight it, but on the other, it's not the school's job to make sure you enjoy your web browsing experience there. EC may be a support site for us, but Chit Chat of all places isn't usually the support section itself. In fact, some of the things we talk about here can go a little bit over the PG-13 rating that this forum likes to keep, so that's also another valid reason to block the site. These are just my two cents though, so do with that what you will.
