I’m coming clean about the online secrets amongst teens in public high schools. I’m outing the savvy kids methods to mess around with whatever they want to on their Chromebooks.
We want to thank Betsy Harrington for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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Imagine you are a teen and you just want to do your usual fooling around on the internet while at school, but the stupid internet blockers get in your way. You can’t access your phone because of school rules.
The most common method to bypass blocking (seemingly unknown by administrators) is to MISSPELL the site address in your search. You can get to your favorite games, to YouTube, and to PORN easily. The larger sites purchase many similar search terms to correctly direct searchers. Many schools block specific sites but the kids are getting there by these other methods. Check out this article that explains several methods to bypass the usual connection. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-ways-to-watch-youtube-without-going-to-youtube/
Of course, tf a student wants read (or listen to) sexually explicit content while at school, they can always just go to their favorite permissible porn book. The Sora Student Library App provides a host of sexually explicit books. Books with misinformation like…“Everybody does it!” when speaking of anal sex. The truth is, many people NEVER do that. It discusses anal douching and warns about the constant fear of STDs when it itches back there. It has pictures. Kids could get traumatized or hurt by some of these sex act recommendations. One book literally hyperlinks kids to dating apps where it teaches sex app usage.
That’s child exploitation!
Read “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson. The book is literally an offense in progress.
Our libraries contain many unsolicited sex Ed books that give bad information. Kids find these books because they are advertised to them through their library app as award-winning reading. The award on the front is like a grooming tool to make it all ok. Once they see the sexual content, they are hooked. Not on reading, … PORN.
CRT (Critical Race Theory) is also illegal as a curriculum in NH, but the library still promotes it on the wall as you enter. Radical CRT books are also advertised to your kids through their Chromebooks. Illegal as a curriculum, but the library has free rein to disseminate abuse to your kids. Their Chromebook is the equivalent of having unblocked internet access anywhere. Porn, music, fight videos, explicit books, ALL of it is accessible to tech savvy kids. Keeping their phones in a box at the front of the class, does not remove abusive distractions.
Kids need the best, most accurate messages at school, not extremist information hidden from parents’ view. It’s time to create a true educational environment at school, one without all of these agenda-driven distractions. Sexually explicit content, CRT, and abortion advice are unwelcome in the K-12 educational environment. Leave these divisive topics out of library and don’t promote them. Kids can access this information outside of the educational environment. Schools should continue to have higher standards than at home. Allowing our kids be exposed at school is damaging. Parents look, then speak up. It’s not as safe as you think.
Betsy Harrington, MSW
mom and therapist
