The Internet offers America's youth a
tremendous resource for learning and exploring the world. However, it is
also a virtual wasteland of pornography, violent, and other inappropriate
sites. Because of this, many Internet-connected schools are today facing
serious issues regarding giving students open access to the Web, while at
the same time protecting them from inappropriate content. In some cases,
school districts are reluctant to give students access to the Internet at
all because of these issues.
However, one school district has solved
the dilemma with a flexible solution that benefits both students and
administrators. Aware of the tremendous advantages of offering Internet
access to students, the Dutchess County Board of Cooperative Educational
Services (BOCES) in up-state New York was eager to implement Internet
access, but was very conscious of the productivity and safety concerns
associated with providing this learning tool to students. To manage Internet
use, BOCES chose filtering software from Websense Inc. Now, with Websense
Enterprise software running on approximately 9,000 workstations, more than
40,000 elementary, middle and high school students will have access to the
Internet.
"The initial goal was to protect
students from inappropriate material," said Bob Knapp, a
internetworking application specialist for Computer Systems Integrators
Inc., the company responsible for evaluating and implementing Internet
filtering software. "But with the all the features of Websense
Enterprise, we also achieved the goal of bandwidth control."
Knapp said Websense was ultimately chosen
because of its ability to integrate with a variety of platforms. Websense
Enterprise was installed with Check Point Firewall-1 on an NT box at BOCES.
The flexibility of Websense enabled BOCES to block student access to sites
containing pornography, violence, alcohol/drugs or other illicit activities
deemed inappropriate for viewing by children. After installing Websense,
BOCES found that inappropriate access became a thing of the past.
For more information about Dutchess County
BOCES, please visit www.dcboces.org/
Eliminate Inappropriate Web Use and Protect Bandwidth
