No matter what class you’re in, you can look around and find students on Twitter, Pinterest and games. Even in classes that demand the utmost attention, such as honors or AP courses, at least one student’s attention is on social media rather than learning the material for that class. Therefore, because students cannot responsibly use Twitter, it needs to be blocked.

At NHS, Twitter is becoming an even bigger epidemic throughout the school than it was in previous school years. Students would rather spend their time refreshing their Twitter feeds every minute than pay attention to their classwork.

I am also guilty of occasionally checking my Twitter, and my grades have been influenced poorly by it, along with other students in the school. Therefore, why has Twitter not been blocked on the school’s wifi?

According to Technology Instructional Coach Christy Steffen, to get an app/website blocked from the school wifi the site has to be considered a nuisance. When you consider how much of time students spend on Twitter a day during class, it meets the definition of a nuisance.

Twitter was not blocked for this school year was because of the push for teachers to use Twitter in the classroom. The goal was to have students tweet intellectual discussions for the class they were in when allowed by the teacher. However, students are abusing this privilege, and I see barely any classes that are using Twitter in this way.

Twitter also remained unblocked because it was believed that the students of NHS would be able to use Twitter responsibly. In reality, students spend their classes tweeting memes, fighting other students and bantering with some of the administration. This behavior could hardly be defined as responsible or productive.

Overall, my grades along with the other students’ grades of NHS, have been affected by the Twitter epidemic. With grades dropping and students’ attention straying from their classes, students are obviously unable to balance school and social media. Action needs to be taken to benefit students’ grades. Therefore, while it may be unfortunate for some students, Twitter needs to be blocked.