Letters to the Editor: Students unplugged

Dear Editor,

Viewing our grades is very important to us as students. We enjoy knowing exactly how we are doing in a particular class, which helps us keep up with our assignments and schedules. Therefore, the information revealed in the article was very disturbing.

Being able to track students while they are on the school Wi-Fi is a total violation of our privacy as people, while taking more computing power and in turn more time and money than it will ever be worth to the school system. This needs to change, and this situation says a lot about our leadership and priorities as a school system.

~senior Jeffrey McKaig

Dear Editor,

I believe VBCPS has come up with a good solution to the Wi-Fi problem. Making students type in their Student ID and password is a great way to monitor what students are searching. Being an active StudentVUE user, it was hard to ask my teachers about my grades when I wasn’t able to pull them up on my phone. My only solution was to take a screenshot of my grades at home when I was off the school’s Wi-Fi. Another problem is that Gmail is blocked, which I use to send myself papers when working on them during school. Solving these two problems would help me become a more efficient and organized student.

~senior Davis Chewy

Dear Editor,

As a high school student, I am constantly using my cell phone as a convenient way to stay in touch with people, look up information, and entertain myself. When the StudentVUE app was created, students could access their grades in an easy way, and I was thrilled. Recently it has come to my attention that VBCPS has installed a new Wi-Fi system, which requires students to login with their student ID and password. This has caused an uproar among students.

I understand that restrictions should be placed on certain websites and apps, but logging into our account allows the school board to trace and follow what we do on the Wi-Fi. Not only is this an invasion of privacy, but it makes it hard to take the matter seriously when we are not treated like adults. If a student wants to misuse their phone in school, they will find a way to do it with or without restricted Wi-Fi. I strongly believe that the implementation of this new Wi-Fi should be rethought.

~senior Bella Marko

Dear Editor,

Blocking the app that allows students to keep up their grades was an inconvenience for the student body. However, I believe what the district has decided to do with the network is a great first step for facilitating a better high school experience. A new network means students will now have faster processing speeds off the new Wi-Fi to aid in quicker searches and easier access to helpful sites.

The initial block of StudentVUE was a great problem for the students within the school district. The app was created to allow students and parents to keep constant tabs on their grades to aid in planning for the year. The situation involving students not being able to access their grades was frustrating to everyone.

However, with the new network, the main issue of StudentVUE was resolved. Students could once again view their grade, but with a twist. Students found out that we had to sign in to our school logins for the Wi-Fi to work. It allows the district to see what students look up on their devices and allows for greater security for the student population. With the new network, fewer websites are blocked, allowing for greater amounts of information to be found for projects by students. The network has a new processor, which allows for students to access websites faster and complete tasks more efficiently.

Even if the districts are able to view what students search and access, there is no need to worry. New security provisions provide for a safer web life and ensure the success of the students. If it was not for the StudentVUE issue, the network would not be new and improved.

~senior Tanner Effinger