Schools Should Let Students Use Their Own Computers And Give Them Access To Wi-Fi.

We should be allowed to use our own computers and provided with Wifi for these devices.

Students are increasingly breaking their school computers (accidentally or on purpose) and that results in the school spending more time and funds to get parts to repair these computers or to get new replacements.

For example, in the beginning of this school year, it has been noted that the school ran out of computers which left a handful of students without a computer for a short period of time.

It would make students more responsible about their belongings if they were able to use their own computer, as people in general tend to take more care of things that cost them something.

School computers should still be an option for students if needed, keeping in mind that some students don’t have their own computers or aren’t able to afford one.

During online school, although Rialto High School provided each student a computer, a lot of students chose to use their own computers and devices rather than use a school computer due to multiple reasons including battery life, software issues, portability, and just the slowness of the school computer, in general.

For example, during online learning, I found my school computer dying super fast in between classes, which wasn’t just my case as it was with a lot of my other friends.

Therefore, I switched from using it to my own iPad which lasted me all day, class after class and later for homework and unrelated school topics on ONE SINGLE CHARGE.

I find it frustrating that my school computer doesn’t last through all of my classes even when it is fully charged at the beginning of the day, which makes me bring a charger everyday and takes away the portability of a laptop.

I’ve noticed that some students take their personal computer to school and use it in replacement for their school computers because some just think that the computers are too slow and laggy.

I was one of them, especially last year with AP Physics. There were just too many digital assignments that included drawing graphs to calculate math and using my finger to draw on the screen of a laptop was just not logical.

In AP Physics, especially, a handful of students brought their iPads in order to do their work more proficiently and neatly.

Even while the school hasn't given its students WiFi for their personal devices, they still use their personal phone hotspots in order to access these assignments through Google. And while this hotspot worked in the long run, it was terrible and made the process even harder to work with.

It's funny because sometimes, if not the majority of the time, I would place my phone beside the windows in order to receive a better hotspot signal.

In the past, Rialto High School had malware attacks which held back students from learning for a while until the problem was fixed. In freshman year, the password for the school's WiFi was leaked and the majority of its students had it.

Although students having the school's Wifi might pose danger to its security, it is the school's responsibility to increase the security of the internet for the school since most, if not all, colleges give free access to WiFi to its students and their internet security is highly protected.

On the same hand, while it's great that the district can block certain websites/content with these computers, there have been multiple times where it became frustrating towards the students and teachers when websites given to us by teachers for learning were blocked for no reason, including a lot of assigned videos. This would not happen if students had their own computer on hand.

All in all, if students choose to, they should be given access to WiFi and be permitted to use their own computers.

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