High school students in the Edmonds School District can use school computers to visit Web sites that promote alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco. And until recently, they could access networking sites like MySpace.com.

While some think those sites should stay open for teaching purposes, others want them blocked to protect students.

The district recently updated its Internet filters, blocking new categories and unblocking old ones. Other proposed changes have seen debate and are not yet final.

Chris Keyes-Back, district coordinator for library and information services, oversees Internet filtering. She recently took input from teachers, students, parents, building administrators and the technology department to help decide filtering changes.

In those discussions, there’s been a disconnect between the needs of building administrators, students and staff, Keyes-Back said.

For example, school principals wanted social networking sites like MySpace.com blocked because they can be used for bullying. The district blocked the networking category of sites in January.

“Those are blocked until we can come up with a mutually acceptable way to deal with them so that the administrators are not feeling like they’re under the gun and the teachers (can) teach kids how to use them responsibly,” said Keyes-Back. “I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Some want to see the category opened at some point. Ryan Niman teaches English at Mountlake Terrace High School and was one of the teachers who gave input to Keyes-Back.

Employers — and even the TV show “American Idol” — view online profiles to eliminate people, he said. Students should be taught how to use the sites wisely, he said. Teachers could teach students, for example, whether their profile gives away their location to predators.

School groups, including International Baccalaureate and yearbook students, also used MySpace to communicate.

Another area of controversy has been whether to block sites at the high school level that promote alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco use. The issue raised discussion at the Feb. 27 Edmonds School Board meeting.

Board member Dr. Bruce Williams said open access to those sites at school was absurd.

“This (is a) life-destroying substance,” he said. “I see a new case of lung cancer every month. It’s a problem.”

The district could block sites that promote alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco while keeping open sites that offer just facts.

Superintendent Nick Brossoit said he supported blocking the sites.

“We don’t let kids wear a T-shirt to school with a marijuana leaf,” he said, asking why the district should give access to Web sites that do that.

“I think it should be blocked,” said Paige Huff, a Meadowdale High School student and board adviser. “Alcohol and drug use is a huge problem at our high school.”

Brett Morrison, a Mountlake Terrace High School student and board adviser, disagreed.

“People are going to parties and drinking alcohol, but not because of Web sites,” he said.

Niman, the English teacher, would like to see them open for instruction. In a few weeks, he will teach a unit on digital literacy, and wanted the students to look at Web-based tobacco advertising campaigns.

Board members asked Keyes-Back to research how often the sites are used. This week, she said they were used very little.

The board can make a decision on the category if it would like to, she said.

In the meantime, these changes have been made:

• Dating and personals sites have been blocked. Between Feb. 14 and Feb. 21, there were over 2,000 dating or personal pages viewed, mostly at high schools, according to district records.

“It’s presenting some level of danger for our students,” said Keyes-Back.

• “Lifestyle” sites have been unblocked from the middle school level. The district recently discovered the category covers the site of a support group for families of homosexuals, a site on Lebanese Americans, a feminist site, a site on father’s rights and a fraternity.

Also, when the category was blocked a few years ago, there was concern that access would be denied to legitimate sites that would help students at an age when many explore their sexual orientation, Keyes-Back said.

• Access to “Criminal Skills” sites will change. High school students have been able to view sites that teach or promote criminal skills like murder or theft. Until recently, cheating sites where students could buy papers were included in the “Criminal Skills” category, which was left open so teachers could check the sites to uncover plagiarism.

But now, cheating sites can be separated from criminal sites. The district will keep the cheating sites open at the high school level and block criminal sites. Cheating sites have been and will be blocked at elementary and middle schools.

Teachers said it was unlikely that students would download plagiarized essays at school, but they could do it at home, Keyes-Back said.

Niman said there is a need for more teacher training on digital literacy. He can see why blocking MySpace and other social networking sites makes sense in the short term, until there’s professional development for teachers.

“There is a huge need to train students in digital literacy,” he said. “Since few teachers come from a technology background, we need a professional development/support system in place.”

Cell phones could mean the end of Internet filtering in the future, he said.

That’s because the phones and other devices can access the Internet. They use a network outside of the school’s network, so could access sites the district blocks even while at school, Keyes-Back said.