Frustration with technology access

The video clips about our teenagers and twentysomethings struck me as I look at all of the new 'rules' and the refinement of our CIPA filter for the new school year. We really do ask students to power down and then expect to motivate them with chalkboards and the traditional factory model seating and format that was used 30 years ago. This year our school has completely outlawed not only cell phones but also ipods. In addition, the 'newer' CIPA filter blocks any kind of message board, forum, e-mail or blog from not only students but also faculty. This has been frustrating as many of the contacts we teachers have had with faculty at other schools via message boards and forums are blocked. Moreover, it discourages any use of blogs or discussion boards for student use. We have a few teachers who have students get twitter accounts or become a member of blogs outside the school building, but this is unfair to the poorer kids whose only internet access is school or the public library, that they have a hard time getting to. From an administrative standpoint, I understand the need for the school to be vigilant about student use of the internet--there are always those few apples that ruin it for the bunch. But as teachers, I believe that through our log ins (and I have asked and know this is true) they could give us access to these educational opportunities. If some amongst us abuse it, they can be admonished as per our contracts. It seems that there is a need for more trust...