Vermont High School the First to Ban Blogs

I didn't post about this at the time - about three weeks ago - but Rutland (VT) High School made a plop in the news by becoming the first school in the nation to specifically ban blogs and blogging because blogs are "not an educational use of computers".

Granted, a lot of blogs are not in any way educational, except in the broadest sense of the term. But it seems like an odd line to draw. In fact, many schools - often upper classes in high school as well as colleges - are using blogs and blogging as part of different classes.

The content available on America Online, the online service, for example, is rarely educational. Would a school specifically ban the use of AOL?

Nope. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me on the face of it. I can see some cause for concern about blogs - just as you'd have with various Web sites - because not all material is appropriate for all age groups. But just flat out saying that blogs aren't an educational use of computers sounds like lipstick on a pig.