Wake schools, students square off over Snapchat access

In the battle to get students to focus on their classes rather than their classmates, the Wake County Public School System this week blocked access to the messaging application Snapchat on the district's WiFi network. "Snaps," according to the company's description, are photos, videos or messages sent to a mobile device that disappear after a few seconds. The app is especially popular with teens.

@WCPSS @AnnaOlson68 Thank God I graduated. Because I hated school because of policies like this. And I think thats why most kids hate school

— Mike (MaGzz) (@zvoidteam) September 21, 2015

Lisa Luten, Wake schools spokeswoman, said that while the district allows students to bring their personal devices to school, the school reserves the right to limit their access to programs which add value to day-to-day instruction. Snapchat didn’t make the cut, she said.

Students used another social networking app, Twitter, to express their opposition to the move, triggering a back-and-forth with the Wake County schools account.

@randixmartinez HOW MANY RTS TO GET YOU TO PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY DURING SCHOOL?

— Wake County Schools (@WCPSS) September 21, 2015