clearing the air (and our profession) re filtering

["Jan Birney@aol.com" <JanBirney@AOL.COM>]

LM_NETTERS,
Ok, now that we have gone over this Dr. Laura discussion every which way to
Tuesday and turned it into a discussion of "who's listserv is it anyway?",
let's get back to the original reason why we were, and still should be,
outraged about "Dr. Laura's" besmirching the profession of librarian (and by
association, Library Media Specialists) with her tirades against filtering of
Internet sites and calling for legislation that links the e-rate with
filtering.  What are we going to do about it??
I think most of us agree that her campaign does harm to librarians and the
communities they serve.  What, beside tossing this ball around a friendly
court, can we as librarians do to counteract her attacks?
We can gather information and objective facts about filtering and what it can
and cannot do.
We can inform and educate the parents and community leaders who think filters
will protect children.  These people only want what is best for their kids;
they are frightened and are grabbing on to whatever lifeline they see in
these turbulent times.  They need to know that filters are not the answer,
but they need empirical evidence, informed opinions, and viable alternatives
(AUP's perhaps?), not inflammatory rhetoric by a talk show entertainer.  If
Dr. Laura's voice is the only one they hear, of course they will believe her!
We can continue to act in a professional manner, write to our congressional
representatives, and refuse to sink to the level of an hysterical blowhard
who is only interested in radio ratings and turning a profit.
Well, that's my two cents worth.
I hope I didn't offend anyone and I hope we can continue to discuss this
important issue without falling into semantic arguments.  Of course we all
agree in free speech.  Of course we are against censorship.  But let's
remember that this whole thing started because someone tried to give our
profession a black eye.  Let's stick together, folks, because we need each
other more than ever now.

Jan Birney, Computer Specialist
Stratford Catholic Regional School System
Stratford, Ct. 06614
JanBirney@aol.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
 To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
   listserv@listserv.syr.edu          In the message write EITHER:
    1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
 4) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv
 For LM_NET Help & Archives see:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=