Re: Marni's project/internet restriction

[Chris Finer <cfiner@NEWFOUND.K12.NH.US>]

>Marni wrote:

>I am enrolled in an MLS program (which I have written on this list
 many times before!) and I am doing a paper on Restricting internet
 access: freedom of speech v. safety for children. I am curious to
 hear everyone's opinion on this hot topic. Please indicate if you do
 not want to be quoted in a research paper, for I may take statements
 from my results and use them in my paper.
 >Also, does anyone know of any good resources available out there on
 this topic? I seem to be finding a lot about public opinion on public
 libraries, but not much at all about school libraries, which is my
 area of concentration. As always, TIA!
 >Marni Sherman
 >Librarian's Assistant
 >Ardsley High School
 >Ardsley, NY 10502

Dear Marni,

I am firmly convinced that we do our students no favors by artificially
restricting their internet access.

Our Acceptable Use Policy, which I helped to create, puts the onus clearly
on the student first and the parent second for any inappropriate internet
access.  There are several reasons for this:

--no filtering software will protect children from EVERY questionable site.
What protections exist then?

--no filtering software will permit the occasional, appropriate searches --
on breast cancer, or date rape, or opn any number of legitimate, important
research endeavors -- simply because the search includes one of
-somebody's-  buzzwords.

--no filtering software will teach students the personal responsbility they
must cultivate in the Information Age.

--no filtering software will agree with me 100 percent of the time
regarding what to filter out and what to keep.  And here in the library, as
with the other media, that's MY call.

--I am reasonably literate with computers, but I know there are students
who can hack around anything I install.  When that happens, who's to blame?
An unfiltered, self-regulated access policy places the responsibility
with the student from the beginning, period.

I have had very few problems with unfiltered access.  I have had to "pull
the plug" on game-plying during school hours, but that's not a filtering
issue.  I've said no to some personal ads in some cases.  My students know
that if they ever see one of the "don't pass this point if you're under 18"
or whatever, they are to back out immediately.  And they do.  They also
know that if they get into a questionable site but need to forge ahead.
(The girl who researched date rape found legitimate sites offering
counseling and advice mixed in with offers for "free pix."  Together we
navigated these perilous waters.)

I watch my students' access closely, circulate frequently, and ask them to
"show me your 'go'" -- in other words, to use the menu bar to show me all
the sites they've visited since they've logged on.  They don't really see
it as an intrusion, and I always put as positive a spin on it as I can -- I
know you're trustworthy, and now that I've seen your Go, so will everybody
else -- that sort of thing.

If you would like a copy of my AUP, I'd be happy to send it along.

Finally, the American Library Association puts it simply and very clearly:
"The American Library Association affirms that the use of filtering
software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech
violates the Library Bill of Rights."  Couldn't say it better myself.

Best of luck in your project, Marni.  Keeep us, er, posted...

Chris Finer, LMG
Library Media Program
Newfound Regional High School
Bristol, NH

cfiner@newfound.k12.nh.us

There's no use going to school
unless your final destination is
the library.
                   --after Ray Bradbury

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