I’d be lying if I said that the majority of the hits to this site don’t come from my high school during its hours of operation. The fact is that the popularity of my lil’ spot to speak out (no really, one post a month is speaking out) spans all age groups- from teachers to high school students, all the way down to the wee retarded folk in the junior high. Hell, I’ve even managed to attract the attention of the high school principal on a few occasions (by lambasting his policies and generally making a mockery of everything he does, but still). However, there’s one age group that I thought I’d never reach, much less have them be the downfall of widespread access to this page at the place that made it so popular in the first place. What group do I speak of?
Elementary kids.
Oh yes. You see, two weeks ago (yeah, yeah- see above reference to laziness) it was discovered that this site had suddenly become one of the many places on the internet blocked by our school’s shiny new obnoxious and very-nearly-useless filter. Normally it cites a reason- adult entertainment, graphic images, web host (no, I don’t know either), profanity, etc. For me: “Local deny”. Apparently it was done rather hastily…
At any rate, I finally talked to our school’s computer admin (who’s a good guy and whom I’ve never had any problems with) and apparently the very small children down the road had been accessing my site. I can only imagine the scenario of a teacher seeing a child on here and the ensuing yelling, but alas, it garnered the attention of the principal down there and he promptly requested a ban. And since we’re too technologically inept to separate networks between buildings several blocks apart, it’s banned everywhere.
Now, I have no problem whatsoever with this site being banned at the elementary level. For one thing, nobody at that age would understand the posts around here- hell, half the people in my own grade don’t (you know, I just realized how sad that is)- and would inevitably be on just to see the dirty words or to say, “Wow, this guy is on the internet and I know him!” So even to kill time by getting a laugh or two out of the internet, which is the only reason anyone gets on here at the high school, it’d be useless down there.
What I do take issue with is the discussion I almost had with the admin about profanity on sites available at school (I say “almost” because I was entirely too out of it that morning to bother). Basically, he stated that maybe this site was more appropriate for home usage than at school.
Oh oh! So it’s not one of those sites appropriate for school… Like the internet games I see our computer lab monitor playing all the time? Or how about the countless unblocked geocities, tripod, blogspot, various editorial/opinion sections of new sites… I mean not only is there swearing (*gasp*) contained in those places, but some of them completely lack educational value! How DARE we have anything potentially fun/interesting available to our students! WE MUST CRUSH FUN. CRUSH IT LIKE EVIL, VIRULENT BUG!
Hey, while we’re at it we should applaud the teachers of our high school for not swearing in front of their students. I mean, who in our school can say they’ve heard them do that? By golly, not many! Oh, and rampant use of profanity and derogatory terms by students (many a time right in front of teachers) at lunch and break for all the campus to hear? Never happens. Nope! In fact, THS is its own happy little world filled with pretty colors, cute fuzzy things, and a head-honcho leader man that RADIATES with joy! Oh it’s such a beautiful, wonderfully wonderful world!
Or not. Look, profanity is a part of life and students are going to hear it one way or the other. While I’ll agree that excessive use of it is worthless and denotes unintelligence, when you spread it around it can add a particular style and attitude to writing, which is often helpful in making your point forcefully and bluntly. And since there is not an excessive amount here, I have a message to everyone that sees this page and feels it’s inappropriate for anyone ages 13 to 18:
You hear that? That loud “wooshing” sound? Yeah, that’s reality flying right the fuck past you.
Fight the power.
good to see that SOMEONE is still sticking it to the man. i know that i personaly have been slacking, and haven’t been suspended for a,lmost a month. but it’s weird. you know, when you stay up for 9 days without sleep, you learn things. i learned that realy the only thing that keeps the man on our backs is us. if we keep paying our ime to thinking about big brother, the cia, or anyone who is THE MAN, then they will only become more powerful. but enough about that.