POLL: What Do You Think of Connecticut HS Accused of Blocking Conservative Websites?

There are certain websites high school students shouldn’t be able to access on a school computer. But Andrew Lampart, a senior at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, CT, was surprised to find many conservative or right-leaning websites blocked by his school’s firewall, The Connecticut Post reports.

The 18-year-old says he was in the library doing research on gun control for an assignment last month when he realized he couldn’t access the websites of Second Amendment groups, anti-abortion and traditional marriage organizations and the Connecticut Republican Party.

• We want to hear from you: how do you feel about students being blocked from conservative websites? Tell us in the poll or Comments section.

Lampart lodged a formal complaint with the Region 14 Board of Education Monday night, after initially contacting the school’s superintendent.

The screenshots Lambert took of the blocked sites can be seen at The Connecticut Post.

In a statement released Thursday, the Superintendent of the School District Jody Ian Goeler said their internet filter “satisfies requirements of the Children’s Internet Protection Act.” 

He explained that the filter is provided by an outside company, which electronically filters a website’s content to judge its suitability for high school students.

“The district is trying to determine the reason for the inconsistency and if the bias is pervasive enough to justify switching to another content filtering provider.  The district does not block individual sites, only categories of websites,” continued Goeler.