BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Keeping up with current events, Demarest Elementary School fifth- and sixth-graders were given a lesson in net neutrality by media instructor Rosemary Vetrano on Friday, Dec. 8.
The policy of net neutrality is the ability for an individual to have equal access to all websites regardless of the data it may contain. The Federal Communications Commission, which oversees the Internet, is expected to vote this week to repeal that policy. This would curtail government oversight and place Internet services in a free, competitive market. There are advocates for both safeguarding net neutrality and its revocation. The students in Vetrano’s class had discussed among themselves the pros and cons of net neutrality and decided in favor of keeping the policy.
The content for Vetrano’s discussion came from Newsela, a website providing essays for school children on a variety of subjects, some controversial. A net neutrality essay was displayed on a smart board while the children sat on the carpeted floor listening to Vetrano advocate for net neutrality.
She told the class that net neutrality meant fair access for everyone to Internet websites. But Internet access is not free, Vetrano said; someone has to pay for it.
“We think it’s free,” she said. “It’s not. Service providers, up to now, had to make everyone have equal access to all the websites. They could not make some websites faster or slower.”
Principal Mary Todaro, visiting the class, clarified the importance of speed on the Net.
“Why does it matter if one website is faster than another”? she said. “Suppose I sold cupcakes and my website is faster than another website selling cupcakes. Where would you buy your cupcakes?”
But according to the Newsela essay, the chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, Ajit Pai, advocates repealing net neutrality laws. Vetrano said to allow Net service providers to determine what companies have the faster websites may not be such a good idea.
“If speed is slow, you might not get to the website,” she said. “What will happen to the little companies?”
The essay pointed out that Pai was once an attorney for Verizon.
“Does anyone hear anything in that?” Vetrano said. “Verizon would have an advantage with neutrality. Net neutrality is very important. Many people don’t know about it.”
The essay also said that the takeover of Time Warner by AT&T would not be good for consumers because the company would own too much telecommunication outlets in a “vertical merger.” This means owning content and the distribution of content. The essay said the merger is being blocked by the antitrust division of the federal government. Vetrano said, if allowed to proceed, the merger might cost consumers more money to receive some TV programming.
“Is there a day that goes by without the Internet,” she said.
The class did not think so.
“This is your fight,” Vetrano told the class. “My generation fought for not having monopolies in the phone companies. This is your fight for free speech. I would be remiss if I did not make you aware of this.”
She said the FCC will be voting on net neutrality Friday, Dec. 15. She told her students to share the concept of net neutrality with their parents and friends.
“Big service providers can determine the speed of websites,” she said. “They don’t make as much money as they want now because they are given a set of rules to follow.”
Following the class, Vetrano said it was important that her students were made aware of global occurrences.
“It’s a fight for free speech,” she said. “They’re in the fifth and sixth grades. It’s important that they know about that fight as they enter into the world.”
Newsela was introduced to the school district this year, she said, and its essays are provided in a variety of reading levels.
Later in her office, Todaro said besides Newsela, the district has another tool called Discovering Education. This provides news articles, interactive videos, and virtual field trips, among other things, she said.
“We want our students to take information from different sources and synthesize it,” Todaro said.
As the district moves closer to providing Chromebooks for all its students, she said the new technology will provide students with an educational experience even when a student is not in a classroom.
“But nothing replaces a live teacher,” she said.
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