Having no access to Facebook and MySpace during school is old news. Although as social media sites evolve, sites such as Twitter and Tumblr are still accessible at school. With the excess use of such sites within school, it is no surprise that the administration has thought to block other sites besides Facebook.

I’m going to play the devil’s advocate here: students should have no access to social media during school hours. It is a distraction to the education we are provided at school.

EGHS is an institution for learning. We are at school in order to be taught by our teachers and to prepare ourselves for our future success. If you go to school for other reasons besides learning, that is another problem.

Social media sites distract us from our learning experience. Obviously this is a problem. We are at school to learn. Getting distracted from education drives us away from the original purpose of school.

Yes. I admit social media sites are fun to use. My personal poison of choice is Tumblr, which is not blocked in school. And, yes,  I admit that I am guilty of going on the site during school hours. If we have the choice of math homework or Tumblr, there is no doubt that we will choose Tumblr.

This is why the “choice” should be eliminated. It is because we have this choice that we are tempted to use social media at school. By getting rid of this temptation, we will all be forced to focus on school.

In a way it sounds like an oppressive government, right? But in all honesty, I believe it needs to come down to this. We just don’t have the self-control.

The administration is not blind. They are well aware that we have access to such sites as Twitter. But they gave us the benefit of the doubt and hoped that we would be mature enough to handle and exercise self-control.

Without a doubt, we proved them completely wrong. From the “#letsmakeitawkward” on Twitter to the yells of teachers in the computer labs to get off Tumblr, this is enough evidence to show that we are just not at the maturity level where social media can be used at school.

Once we step onto school grounds all social media sites should not be accessed.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t use these sites at all. They were created to help us stay connected with people all around us, to create a global network of community.

But we are at school where we can talk face to face with the people around us. There is just no educational need or value for social media school.

In a way, I guess we have two options: do we allow the administration to take away these sites at school? Or do we finally express the maturity level of high school students?

The second option seems impossible in my opinion. The administration needs to block all social media sites within school.

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Social media is becoming a worldwide addiction for high school students. Until this year, Elk Grove High School blocked social media sites like Twitter and  Facebook. Now that these sites are available on iPads, many students are taking advantage of it.

The administration is in the reviewing process of blocking social media sites. Personally, I disagree along with many other hard-working high school students throughout the district.

There are many reasons why social media should be offered throughout the school day. It gives students an overall self-esteem boost and a way to learn about clubs and sports, especially for freshmen, who need to learn about important meetings and groups.

Another reason is that students escape to social media to find an identity. Throughout the school day, the student can learn to become more social in everyday life through social media. Twitter, for example, helps the user express them and let people know who they are.

Also, online communication is a big plus of social media. Social media is perfect for out of classroom discussions, when students don’t have time to sit down and talk. This is great for group projects and papers. This process has helped students since its availability.

Students can also explore various topics of interest through social media engines. It is very easy for a student to search a topic of interest that they learned about during the school day. All you do is go to the search box, and now you have various opinions and definitions available for your use

Lastly, the major reason why social media should be used in school is to communicate with teachers easier. Teachers aren’t always checking their emails throughout the day.

Social media like Twitter helps students find out assignments and when tests are coming up. This is a huge resource for students around the district.

When the lab monitors, teachers and security guards tell the student population to get off Twitter or Tumblr, I can’t help but shake my head. In the argument over if social media should be allowed in schools, the good obviously outweighs the bad.

Social media should be allowed access throughout the district. Why would we take away a learning tool?