Recently, Maize’s technology department blocked some of the most popular social media apps — Snapchat and Instagram. Other apps also are blocked, including Vine, Pandora, iTunes Radio, Netflix, and Hulu.

“It is completely and utterly a waste of people’s time and a waste of a blocking censorship,” junior Jake Doerflinger said. “I think if they’re going to censor something, it should be something useful. Not an app on a phone.”

Some students have a contrasting opinion.

“It will benefit people by [allowing] them [to be] able to focus on their school work,” sophomore Kenzie Moran said.

Chris Botts said the reason is exactly as Moran suspected. 

Moran said the apps being blocked makes her think twice about using her data.

“I have to save data and I’m less likely to be on it as much,” Moran said.

Botts and the technology department agreed that the apps were doing more harm than good when it came to making them accessible from the school wifi network.

Skyward is also not accessible via the app, but that is an unintended consequence of the firewall, technology director Clark Fichtl said. Sophomore Emma Donahue said she is upset over it.

“It honestly makes me really mad,” Donahue said. “I always get told to check my grades or see what my test grade or something was in a class and when I go to check it I can’t get on it unless I turn my wifi off.”

Fichtl said students can access Skyward through the district’s website.