As a student at Clinton High School, I and my fellow classmates find our studies being disrupted, not by our own doing but by the stringent rules placed on our school laptops. Our school employs GoGuardian to manage tabs, redirect, close, and even open new tabs on our laptops, leaving little room for multitasking, and causing issues with the hardware and software of the crappy chromebooks. Not only does this make studying challenging, but it also displaces the emphasis on education as students are much busier trying to bypass these technology roadblocks.

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, we are expected to return our laptops once we graduate, despite having become accustomed to them throughout our highschool journey. We propose the option for students to retain these laptops permanently. Additionally, the lack of a '.edu' domain in our official school emails prevents us from taking advantage of certain student benefits.

 

 

 

 

In fact, an article titled "The Impact of EdTech in Schools: A Perspective" in Penn & Wharton's Public Policy Initiative highlighted that overly strict technology restrictions in schools often lead to a counterproductive environment, as it deters students from concentrating on their academics (Penn & Wharton, 2018).

 

 

 

 

As such, we urge the Clinton Community School District and school board to: 1) Minimize the usage of GoGuardian or similar invasive technology; 2) Allow students to keep their laptops permanently beyond graduation; and 3) Try your best to change our email domain to '.edu' so we can access student benefits. Play your part in facilitating a more conducive learning environment - sign this petition today.