Google’s YouTube Ban has led to many questions for Essex Westford School District: Why is YouTube banned, who decided this, and for how long?
YouTube, founded in 2005, is a popular online platform for sharing videos. It offers a wide variety of content, including entertainment, cultural performances, educational content, and more. The website is free and was frequently used within EWSD until the recent ban was enacted.
Google, the parent company of YouTube, changed its terms of service and will no longer allow YouTube access for people under the age of 18. As a customer of Google, our district is bound to comply with these terms.
Peter Drescher, EWSD Director of Technology and Innovation, was also puzzled by the change.
“This was not a decision made by EWSD or the Technology Department,” Drescher said. “If we had made a decision like this, we perhaps would not have done it in the middle of the school year.”
This reflects the frustration of many teachers and staff who must now adjust the learning plans to accommodate this modification. Teachers are allowed to embed videos in Google Slides and Google Classroom, which will allow access to students.
“That at least for the remainder of this school year, and perhaps beyond, this change will remain in effect at EWSD,” Drescher said.
The Technology and Innovation Center at Essex is working closely with other Vermont districts to consider various ways to deal with the situation. They are also considering ways to put parent permission on YouTube so it will only be provided if your parent can sign a permission slip, but these adjustments wouldn’t take place until over the summer break.
YouTube has been around for about twenty years and has countless resources for students to use. Educational videos are one of the best ways students learn.
Freshman Rachel Wolf believes that the videos can help the students learn.
“YouTube provides educational videos for my learning. Without them, I won’t be able to fully understand many concepts without the visual representations of the videos,” Wolf said.
Although YouTube has many upsides, Drescher can see why Google made this decision.
“The amount of content in YouTube is staggering and grows each day, and may or may not have a level of quality control we’d like to see,” he said. “Sometimes, that content is wholly inappropriate in a school environment as well.”
In view of the YouTube ban, EWSD can no longer allow students to access content on YouTube. The district is unsure as to whether this suspension will be lifted or not; it is all up to Google and if they decide and change their standpoint.
