1st Place, News Story
2024-25, Division 3, News Writing
By Maddie Pilaske & Riley Nicholl
Focus Midland HS
Every click. Every space bar. Every bookmarked tab. It’s all being monitored.
“Do you understand that every keystroke on your computer is
recorded?” Assistant Principal Matt Wenzell said. “Most students go, ‘Yeah’, but they don’t realize every time you touch a button, it is recorded
somewhere in this house.”
This close monitoring is one of many ways the district oversees student-device interactions. Each school year, students are given a Chromebook. As the year progresses, the challenge of accessing websites has become more prominent. Teacher’s lesson plans commonly have restrictions, and students have difficulties utilizing their Chromebooks for schoolwork with the limitations.
Restrictions on Zoom and other websites have confused students because they are seen as educational. However, these websites can give out personal information or harm
students. Chromebook Manager Karen Welser–who assists many students and teachers every day with their technology — is aware of the confusion and frustrations but does not havefull responsibility for its inability to be used.
“One of the reasons for things getting blocked is that if there is a breakout room or a chat where you can talk back and forth,” Welser said. “Students are not allowed on those
types of websites because the school can’t monitor those.”
Websites not only get blocked if chats can’t be monitored but also when there’s a better alternative. Google Classroom became inaccessible to students after Synergy and Canvas
were adopted. These websites have been seen as improvements because of their similar educational activity and their greater features.
“A lot of times there’s an alternative website,” Welser said. “So if I go to look and say, ‘This is what I want to use,’ well, that’s blocked but also there’s this alternative.”
Having websites filtered can cause difficulties for students and teachers. However, they are all in place because of how the district ensures safety.
“The first and foremost thing, as a school district, there are federal and state laws about how to use technology with students’ rights,” Welser said. “The school district has
the obligation to provide websites for educational purposes and to protect students from malicious content. If kids are troublesome trucks, they could go down the wrong path using those open-ended loopholes to do inappropriate things.”
The limitations on Chromebooks may serve as a blockade to legitimate educational outlets. At the same time, these limitations can be beneficial. Wenzell overlooks students’ digital footprint through GoGuardian, an educational software program to monitor online activity and assist in content filtering.
GoGuardian, having a role in the restrictions, can also serve as a safety net for students. While websites are monitored, they are also filtered into different categories which notifies administrators if a student misusing school technology.
According to the district’s Acceptable Use Policy, “You have no expectation of privacy when using the school’s Technology Resources. The school reserves the right to monitor
and inspect all use of its Technology Resources.”
Principal Tiela Schurman appreciates the ability to help students who don’t express verbal needs for help.
“The benefit of GoGuardian is that we have been able to intervene when students are crying out for help on their pronouns, self-harm, suicide, ideation, all that stuff,” Schurman said. “So we use it as an intervention to protect students.”
While measures are being taken to ensure students have a proper education, administrators understand it’s not a perfect system.
“Technology can be quite fabulous but can be quite dangerous as well, and so we can’t be
negligent,” Schurman said. “We’re giving you access to the whole world, and we can’t let the whole world have access to you.”
NW-02. News Story
News stories should report but not interpret events that have news value and timeliness to the publication’s readers. Advance stories may be included in this category; follow-up stories should be submitted in NW-03. Submit a PDF of the print page(s) on which the story was published or the URL to the story on an online news site.
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance
- The most important, relevant and timely information is near the beginning of the story
- Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence
- Shows thorough reporting skills; develops an understanding of the issues/problems through interviews with varied and balanced sources
- Effective use of facts/quotes gathered predominantly from primary sources. Secondary sources, if used, are cited appropriately.
- Avoids opinion unless properly attributed
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely, and vividly
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person