Recently, Pelham students have been searching up their favorite studying tool, the website Quizlet in order to study for a test or quiz, only to find it being blocked on their school issued Chromebook. Quizlet is a well known website built around studying efficiently for every  student struggling on a topic. On the site, students can create their own study guides, find other people’s study guides, create flashcards and play educational mini-games. Quizlet was always an essential tool that students could easily access on their school chromebooks, and assisted greatly in the studying process. This remained true until around two years ago when the site was suddenly blocked on school issued Chromebook’s. Immediately, many students were deeply concerned about the reasons behind the blockage. It was found that the reason behind the block was due to the school board believing that it could be used for non-school intended purposes like entertainment, and therefore should not be in a school environment. Students remain confused and angered, as quizlet was the top website for students to study with from their chromebook. Many teachers also have used Quizlet to help students study for upcoming assessments. 

Quizlet must be unblocked on school issued chromebooks as there is no loss and only gain in allowing students access to this valuable resource. While it may be true that the site allows for students to find ways in using the website for non-learning activities, it is simply not a good enough reason for it to be blocked. This is because if someone wants to find a way to engage in non-learning activities on their school issued Chromebook, there will always be a new way to do so. Blocking a website that is extremely useful to students is not the right answer. If someone irresponsible wants to use a website for non academic reasons, but is intended to be mostly an academic website, that should not be the larger percentage of responsible students’ problems. The actions of these irresponsible students should not harm other students who intend to use the site for its intended purpose.