Ban Smoothwall from Our School. It’s Hurting, Not Helping Us.

We, the students, are speaking up.

We are tired of being silenced, censored, and watched by a filtering system that does more harm than good. Smoothwall might claim to keep us safe, but here’s the truth: it’s making school harder, lonelier, and more toxic for many of us.

Here’s what Smoothwall is really doing:

1. Blocking Mental Health Support When We Need It Most

Students trying to access anxiety resources, ADHD coping tools, LGBTQ+ safe spaces, grief counselling, or helplines like Mind and YoungMinds are getting blocked.
Imagine building up the courage to search for help, and your school’s filter tells you it’s “inappropriate.”
“I tried to look up how to deal with panic attacks before class, and Smoothwall blocked the site. I ended up crying in the bathroom.” - Anonymous Student

“I wanted to read about ADHD and masking because I think I might have it. Smoothwall told me I couldn’t.”

2. Censoring Learning and Research

Important websites are blocked for no reason, like articles on history, civil rights, music, feminism, and science.
YouTube tutorials for studying, mental wellbeing, and creativity? Gone.
Even BBC Bitesize and Wikipedia pages have been restricted at times.
“I literally couldn’t finish my homework because the site my teacher gave us was blocked. And when I asked for help, they told me to just ‘use a different source.’”

3. Spying, Stressing, and Shaming Students

Smoothwall tracks everything we search
It reports us for basic curiosity, even when we aren’t doing anything wrong.
This turns school into a place of fear and anxiety. We shouldn’t feel like we’re constantly being watched or punished for thinking.
“I tried to look up lyrics to a song that helped me feel better, and got flagged. Now I’m scared to search for anything.”

Let’s be real: Smoothwall is outdated. It’s not protecting us - it’s controlling us.

We know how to be safe online. What we need is:

A modern filtering system that’s built with student wellbeing in mind.
A voice in digital policies, because we’re the ones affected by them every day.
Trust and support, not punishment and silence.
We’re asking for real change.

We call on our school to:

Remove Smoothwall as our content filter.
Replace it with a more intelligent, transparent, student-focused tool.
Include student voices in future digital safeguarding discussions.
This is about more than internet access.

This is about mental health, education, privacy, and respect.

Sign this petition to show our school that we deserve better.

Because we’re not just students, we’re people, and we deserve to be heard.