By Ellys Sun

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD) discovers a surge in social media usage amongst students. Fearing that students aren’t as productive when using social media, they respond by blocking multiple social media websites from school wifi, such as Instagram. Today we ask how students from across the district feel about this sudden change. 

For years, it has been an ongoing complaint from many teachers that students are not using their technology for educational purposes and often end up wasting their class time. It has always been seen as a difficult task trying to keep the attention of a group of teenagers, but it’s been more of a challenge with screens. Erik Uribe says “For a second there’s downtime, they can’t get away from it. There are some who can manage it, but there are some who can’t.” When asked about how social media usage affects class time, William Henninger says “I think it really can make people unproductive, it is distracting and students get preoccupied with it. It prevents them from staying focused on doing class activities, listening, and paying attention.” 

Although the usage of social media has been seen primarily as a distraction, some students are concerned about their abilities to stay up to date with their extracurricular activities. It has become increasingly difficult to stay up to date clubs, sports, and other school related groups especially for students without cellular data plans or virtual private networks (VPNs). A survey hosted by Raider Review Staff found that over 64% of students who responded saw the ban as a major inconvenience. Danielle Garcia, a student of Silver Creek High says “… I usually rely and depend on Instagram as a resource to keep up with meeting dates and information. Due to the blocked website, I was unaware of the meeting reschedule which results in an absence and loss in points..” 

Despite the frustrations of many students, some may argue that the ban did nothing when it came to their cell phone usage. With ESUHSD having thousands of students accessing their internet daily, connection has been poor during peak hours. Aidan Lam Says “Many people don’t use traditional phone numbers or are uncomfortable with sharing. Communication through instagram is a necessary privilege. And while yes many students have data, it rarely functions on campus, inconveniencing all.” 

When asked for additional comments, Khoi Nguyen responded with “These decisions were made by someone who are one sided, nor considerate to how their decisions affect the entire student population…”