Before someone new to the topic starts talking please read these posts:

https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/9454833/ (The best one I've seen so far)
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/9450675/ (Codubee)
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/9451040/

My old technology teacher has emailed me saying
"The decision to block scratch was made for a couple of reasons and one of them is that Scratch will not promise to avoid sharing student information. "

Are these terms going to change in NGP? The scratch community has found out scratch is moving beyond student accounts, replacing them with normal accounts connected to Google classroom (which makes me assume student information will be forced to be shared with educators).

(I understood things wrong, she meant Scratch cannot guarantee student info will be kept away from outside platforms, but is this logic still going to change in NGP)?

I really need a reply from someone related to ST, this could change everything about the main website getting blocked at my school.

Okay can someone try to answer the question?

What are the other reasons though?

medians wrote:

What are the other reasons though?

Probably because there is also UGC here. I mean, that is why back in 6th it was briefly blocked for me.
EDIT: But Scratch can be used in education, I mean even NGP is going to allow Google accounts so in my opinion sharing information is really just a fault of the students themselves, not of the platform. And, Scratch Team doesn't encourage sharing of information.

medians wrote:

What are the other reasons though?

Idk she didn't tell me.

medians wrote:

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

It's the school's choice and you can't try to change them just for your own benefit, it's a dangerous website for school students anyways

And how is it dangerous? Also, these systems have been shown to be a bad idea (esp. when they work outside of school)

Given the amount of spam and drama on this platform, and the fact that this site has been a major target for bad actors, the risks would probably outweigh the benefits of using Scratch. Almost all students don't even use Scratch to code anyway; they use it to play games. There's no point in using the Scratch website itself when the offline editor and assignment organization tools like Canvas and Schoology exist.

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

It's the school's choice and you can't try to change them just for your own benefit, it's a dangerous website for school students anyways

And how is it dangerous? Also, these systems have been shown to be a bad idea (esp. when they work outside of school)

Given the amount of spam and drama on this platform, and the fact that this site has been a major target for bad actors, the risks would probably outweigh the benefits of using Scratch. Almost all students don't even use Scratch to code anyway; they use it to play games. There's no point in using the Scratch website itself when the offline editor and assignment organization tools like Canvas and Schoology exist.

↑ This

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

CuteRobot22 wrote:

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

ChristianScratcher1 wrote:

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

It's the school's choice and you can't try to change them just for your own benefit, it's a dangerous website for school students anyways

Not dangerous. In fact, it is

no

It isn't. You are probably a school student yourself, and so am I.

No I'm not

Yep, I Totally Believe You

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

It's the school's choice and you can't try to change them just for your own benefit, it's a dangerous website for school students anyways

And how is it dangerous? Also, these systems have been shown to be a bad idea (esp. when they work outside of school)

Given the amount of spam and drama on this platform, and the fact that this site has been a major target for bad actors, the risks would probably outweigh the benefits of using Scratch. Almost all students don't even use Scratch to code anyway; they use it to play games. There's no point in using the Scratch website itself when the offline editor and assignment organization tools like Canvas and Schoology exist.

In my opinion, there's a better solution though
Also, many schools block the offline editor or google play store (and Canvas and Schoology aren't perfect)
Edit: I think I also remember being blocked from using canvas or whatever they used once LOL

Magudragon wrote:

medians wrote:

What are the other reasons though?

Idk she didn't tell me.

Could you ask her so that Scratch knows how to help
Like, scratch could just fix the issues that are causing it to be blocked in the first place

medians wrote:

Also, many schools block the offline editor or google play store (and Canvas and Schoology aren't perfect)
Edit: I think I also remember being blocked from using canvas or whatever they used once LOL

School IT could just unblock it. And I would say that the Scratch classroom system would probably be even less perfect than the other things.

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

Also, many schools block the offline editor or google play store (and Canvas and Schoology aren't perfect)
Edit: I think I also remember being blocked from using canvas or whatever they used once LOL

School IT could just unblock it. And I would say that the Scratch classroom system would probably be even less perfect than the other things.

I mean I guess that depends on whether they're willing to listen (though that's why I said “In my opinion, there's a better solution though” like maybe the school could ask scratch for a compromise and maybe they could just fix the issues with student accounts in the first place or any other solution)
That's why I said this:

Could you ask her so that Scratch knows how to help
Like, scratch could just fix the issues that are causing it to be blocked in the first place

if they're not willing to get rid of blocks in general
the school also hasn't elaborated on “other reasons” so we don't know if ugc might be a reason yet or if those reasons are why

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

manuelgenarotourner wrote:

It's the school's choice and you can't try to change them just for your own benefit, it's a dangerous website for school students anyways

And how is it dangerous? Also, these systems have been shown to be a bad idea (esp. when they work outside of school)

Given the amount of spam and drama on this platform, and the fact that this site has been a major target for bad actors, the risks would probably outweigh the benefits of using Scratch. Almost all students don't even use Scratch to code anyway; they use it to play games. There's no point in using the Scratch website itself when the offline editor and assignment organization tools like Canvas and Schoology exist.

What if Scratch fixed those issues though (also schools can block specific pages from what I've heard)

medians wrote:

I mean I guess that depends on whether they're willing to listen bc they might not (though that's why I said “In my opinion, there's a better solution though” like maybe the school could ask scratch for a compromise and maybe they could just fix the issues with student accounts in the first place or any other solution)
That's why I said this:

Could you ask her so that Scratch knows how to help
Like, scratch could just fix the issues that are causing it to be blocked in the first place

I HIGHLY doubt that any district would bother contacting Scratch to fix their issues, when there's a relatively easy way they could implement Scratch into the curriculum themselves, while avoiding all the issues with the platform.

taigasol1 wrote:

I HIGHLY doubt that any district would bother contacting Scratch to fix their issues, when there's a relatively easy way they could implement Scratch into the curriculum themselves, while avoiding all the issues with the platform.

That's what I thought unfortunately but schools can block specific pages i think so idk if that could be used here
Maybe they could allow like the download page and editor so that people can use the offline editor and make projects (though personally i dont think they should have the school blockers, but we could just agree to disagree about that)

medians wrote:

taigasol1 wrote:

I HIGHLY doubt that any district would bother contacting Scratch to fix their issues, when there's a relatively easy way they could implement Scratch into the curriculum themselves, while avoiding all the issues with the platform.

That's what I thought unfortunately but schools can block specific pages i think so idk if that could be used here
Maybe they could allow like the download page (though personally i dont think they should have the school blockers, but we could just agree to disagree)

Yeah, the download page should probably be the only thing students are allowed to access for any district. The website itself is not fit for educational purposes, only the editor is.

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

taigasol1 wrote:

I HIGHLY doubt that any district would bother contacting Scratch to fix their issues, when there's a relatively easy way they could implement Scratch into the curriculum themselves, while avoiding all the issues with the platform.

That's what I thought unfortunately but schools can block specific pages i think so idk if that could be used here
Maybe they could allow like the download page (though personally i dont think they should have the school blockers, but we could just agree to disagree)

Yeah, the download page should probably be the only thing students are allowed to access for any district. The website itself is not fit for educational purposes, only the editor is.

They could also allow like these pages if they arent unblocking the rest of the website:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor
the homepage (maybe block the endpoints though)
the ideas page and some of the stuff linked there
the download page
https://mitscratch.freshdesk.com/en/support/home
https://www.scratchfoundation.org (i don't think there's rlly anything social here)
Though wat do u think about the forums

medians wrote:

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

taigasol1 wrote:

I HIGHLY doubt that any district would bother contacting Scratch to fix their issues, when there's a relatively easy way they could implement Scratch into the curriculum themselves, while avoiding all the issues with the platform.

That's what I thought unfortunately but schools can block specific pages i think so idk if that could be used here
Maybe they could allow like the download page (though personally i dont think they should have the school blockers, but we could just agree to disagree)

Yeah, the download page should probably be the only thing students are allowed to access for any district. The website itself is not fit for educational purposes, only the editor is.

They could also allow like these pages:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor
the homepage (maybe block the endpoints though)
the ideas page
https://mitscratch.freshdesk.com/en/support/home
https://www.scratchfoundation.org (i don't think there's rlly anything social here)
Though wat do u think about the forums

You can get the editor from the offline page, so block that (unless if you're using a chromebook or something). The help center and foundation websites are probably ok. However, forums should 100% be blocked.

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

taigasol1 wrote:

medians wrote:

taigasol1 wrote:

I HIGHLY doubt that any district would bother contacting Scratch to fix their issues, when there's a relatively easy way they could implement Scratch into the curriculum themselves, while avoiding all the issues with the platform.

That's what I thought unfortunately but schools can block specific pages i think so idk if that could be used here
Maybe they could allow like the download page (though personally i dont think they should have the school blockers, but we could just agree to disagree)

Yeah, the download page should probably be the only thing students are allowed to access for any district. The website itself is not fit for educational purposes, only the editor is.

They could also allow like these pages:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor
the homepage (maybe block the endpoints though)
the ideas page
https://mitscratch.freshdesk.com/en/support/home
https://www.scratchfoundation.org (i don't think there's rlly anything social here)
Though wat do u think about the forums

You can get the editor from the offline page, so block that. The help center and foundation websites are probably ok. However, forums should 100% be blocked.

Yeah I was thinking help with scripts and project ideas and the fact that there aren't that many people here but IDK if they'd be able to really detect if a topic is from help with scripts or project ideas

medians wrote:

Yeah I was thinking help with scripts and the fact that there aren't that many people here but IDK if they'd be able to really detect if a topic is from help with scripts

They probably wouldn't, and you would need to make an account to talk on forums anyway.