Have you ever wondered why YouTube was blocked on our school’s Chromebooks? Many might assume it’s because some students were using their devices as a distraction during class. However, the real reason behind the block is that YouTube wasn’t aligned with our school’s guidelines and rules regarding electronic devices.
To get to the bottom of this, I reached out to Assistant Superintendent E.J. Rossi, who said

He also said that “While our filters and other mechanisms to block inappropriate content work very well, there are components within YouTube that allow access to inappropriate content to come through to our students depending on how videos are labeled by the video creator. Additionally, students were able to create their own content and share it with other students, and this was oftentimes also inappropriate. When students did break school rules through the use of technology they were disciplined, but we found that Youtube was unable to block this from continuing to happen.He finally added that. While we do know there can be benefits to YouTube videos, we were unable to properly filter the YouTube site to meet the strict requirements we must follow as a school district, and therefore had to restrict the use of YouTube through our district networks.”

It turns out that YouTube will remain blocked due to its content, which was being used by students to upload their own videos, often containing inappropriate material. This has caused issues across the district where YouTube was unblocked, as students were able to watch and post whatever they wanted during class hours. While some students may not like the block, it ultimately serves as a protective measure to prevent unwanted content from being accessed on school devices.