Students Upset With Securly

With Blake’s implementation of Securly, sixth-grade students have been subject to harsh restrictions on their school-issued laptops. With new rules and regulations also come rebellion, and many sixth-grade students have taken it upon themselves to defy the new Securly mandate. Meet the Securly resistance.

Change.org petition

The most public form of rebellion against Securly has been in the form of a petition. The “Ban Securly” petition on change.org, started by an anonymous sixth-grader, currently has 148 signatures, even including some signatures from high school students.

One line from the student’s petition says “[Securly] is important to me as a student who got this on my computer without my consent. I am very angry because almost everything is blocked.” Although the petition has many signatures, not everyone believes it will have the intended impact, especially considering the main people tagged to respond are Gov. Walz and President Trump.

“If you want safety in schools, let's start with this. Join me.” - Ban Securly Petition

"[Securly] blocks fun sites like Geometry Dash" - Hank Whinnery

VPN users

Of the 51 sixth graders who took part in the Blake Bear Bugle survey about Securly, 34% said they have used or use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to block Securly. VPNs work by connecting the computer to an outside network, masking the IP address. VPNs bypass Securly by encrypting data from the computer before it reaches Securly's filtering and placing the computer on a private network that Securly can’t reach. In an anonymous student’s words, VPNs work by “[putting] you on your own private network where you can't be blocked by stuff or tracked by anybody.”

The student body was very split on opinions on VPNs in the survey. Many students claimed that VPNs were necessary for their safety, with about 31% of those with VPNs claiming they didn’t feel safe. These students noted that Securly has been sued for stealing students’ information and selling it to third parties. There have been major cases in both Minnesota (Hunter V. Securly) and California (Bate V. Securly), alleging that collecting and selling data from students without consent is against the law.

On the other hand, 26% of the students who don’t have a VPN said that VPNs are “dangerous” and “untrustworthy.” The free VPNs that are found on the web store are very likely to track data or even download malware on devices. A major study from UC Berkeley, CSIRO ( The Australian national science agency), University of South Wales, and ICSI (International Computer Science Institute), found that an astonishing 84% of free VPNs leak data. In addition, 34% contain viruses, and 18% don’t work because they don’t encrypt data, which is the purpose of a VPN.

Blake had an assembly for the sixth-graders about VPNs, outlining the dangers and new consequences for students caught using them. The first time someone is caught using a VPN, Blake will take that student’s computer and check to make sure the computer wasn't harmed or hacked. The computer will stay at school overnight in the charging bin. After that, if the student is caught again, they will have a full week of limited computer access, meaning they can use the computer during school hours but cannot take the device home. If the student still is using a VPN after that, they lose their computer for a daunting six weeks.

The fact that Blake had to have an assembly about VPNs is concerning. It demonstrates how, by using Securly in the hopes of keeping students safe online, Blake has unintentionally done the opposite. It is likely that sixth graders would not know what a VPN is, much less know how to install it, if it weren’t for Securly and the students’ desire to rebel.

Student hackers

A small group of students have taken it into their own hands to block Securly, and they have gone much farther than simply using VPNs. They have discovered many ways around Securly and are enjoying the creativity and freedom found in “hacking.” The students get around Securly by using complex computer functions involving Keychain access and Terminal, two preinstalled applications on every Mac.

“[Securly] is causing us lots of harm" - Dave Rana

Rumors have been flying across the school about Blake’s next move with Securly. As the end of the school year draws near, the question remains: will Securly expand to other grades next fall? A predictable 80% of middle school students are against expansion. Has Blake had enough of the resistance to stop with Securly, or will students have to face a largely unwanted expansion?