Websense, the Internet Filter

Providing supervision of your students while they are on the Internet is a responsibility that is taken seriously in the Nine Mile Falls School District. There is a great deal of valuable information on the Internet, information not available from other sources in the District. There are, however, Internet sites that we do not want our students accessing because they are inappropriate.

The supervision teachers provide while students are on the Internet is excellent, yet we have over 750 computers in our network, and students could come across inappropriate sites in their travels. Because this is an area of concern and because we want to provide the highest degree of safety possible at this time, the District uses an Internet filter.

The filter is a product called “Websense.” Websense is a subscription software service that is updated nightly to assist in protecting your student from pornography and other harmful sites. Websense operates 24 hours a day, not just during school hours.

Our internet filter blocks access to sites deemed inappropriate for a school population. The following are the general categories that are blocked: Nudity, Adult Content, Sex, Violence, Drug Use, Gambling, Bad Language, and Crime. Also blocked are Chat and free E-mail sites. The Internet is an important information source that we want your students to be able to skillfully access. Because we want our students to have the safest journey possible on the Internet, we have installed Websense, our internet filter.