I appreciate Doug's passion and tenacity and I don't disagree with
anything he says. But I took something different from Jeff's remarks
yesterday. Maybe I misunderstood and Jeff really was advocating
something more sweeping.
I have been a vocal and persistent advocate for Wikipedia and I continue
to use it frequently and recommend it to students. What Jeff points out
is that we owe it to ourselves to be fully aware of just how broad its
scope is, including materials that are not merely controversial but
developmentally inappropriate for many (most? all?) of our younger
students. And this scope, one of Wikipedia's strongest assets, presents
challenges for us.
For me this is merely a reminder to remain vigilant in the way we
supervise children when they're working in the Library.
When I send my own children off to school, I certainly don't expect the
school either to support or to challenge the values we try to instill at
home. One way or another, children will no doubt encounter both. That's
part of growing up. But I do expect that, the more so with younger
children, they will receive an appropriate degree of supervision at all
times.
Sooner or later some children are going to come across inappopriate
materials on the Internet, whether accidentally or on purpose. Where we
have to focus our awareness is on how and how quickly we respond.
Because the end result of too many of those incidents will, in too many
cases, be further outcry, followed by politically motivated restriction.
As I told Jeff off list yesterday, I would have a hard time explaining
to a parent how her daughter had learned so much about the "dirty
Sanchez" in my Library. I could offer a cogent defense, but I wonder how
many administrators would back me up. I don't think that's allowing
anyone to frighten me into abandoning my principles, it's merely taking
a realistic assessment of the landscape. If we want to continue to offer
access to a remarkable tool like Wikipedia, we have to be responsible
with it. And this means knowing fully what we've got.
---Bob.
/************************************************/
/* Bob Hassett, Head Librarian */
/* Luther Jackson Middle School */
/* 3020 Gallows Road */
/* Falls Church, Virginia 22042 */
/* (703) 204-8133 */
/* Bob.Hassett@fcps.edu */
/************************************************/
See you in the Library!
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of dougj
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 9:58 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Censors and Wikipedia - a rant
Hi folks,
Yesterday, Jeff Hastings wrote
<http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/LM_NET/Current/msg00227.html>:
> Let me make it clear, though, that I'm saying that the scope [of
> Wikipedia] in a k-12 environment can be highly distracting to students
> and downright hazardous to your professional life. Personally, I work
> in a district where a "values" group recently took actions to attempt
> to convict teachers and school officials for "distributing pornography
> to minors" based upon their use of the book "Freedom writer's diary"
> in High School accelerated English. And most of us have now read about
> the felony conviction of a hapless substitute teacher who unwittingly
"allowed" students to see pornographic images.
>
> In that sort of climate especially, Wikipedia's scope in areas like
> sexuality, vernacular, and pop-culture become problematic. Again, I'd
> hate to explain to an antagonistic group of fundamentalists how a
> student learned to perform fellatio by perusing an illustrated
> Wikipedia article while ostensibly doing a library research
> project--and there's no doubt that that scenario could happen in an
instant. I think educators have to take a second to think about that.
OK, let's step back and think for a minute what might happen if we used
the views of every "antagonistic group of fundamentalists" to dictate
our school and library selection policy. You know it just ain't the
naughty bits they're worried about.
What about this subversive material?
"Current evolutionary theory holds that all species evolved from a
single form of life which lived more than 3 1/2 billion years ago ...
Although evolution is called a "theory," this term does not mean that
evolutionary biology is guesswork or is not supported by evidence. In
science, a theory is a set of ideas based on observations about nature
that explains many related facts. The theory of evolution is supported
by evidence from many scientific fields. When a theory is supported by
so much evidence, it becomes accepted as a scientific fact. Almost all
scientists consider the theory of evolution to be a scientific fact."
This radical information source? World Book Online. Jeff, I'll bet
dollars to doughnuts that you have parents who feel this violates their
values and ought to be tossed from your library as well. I hope you got
some big dumpsters!
My question is this: If we let the loudest, most politically and
socially radical members of our communities frighten us into abandoning
our selection principles, where does it stop?
And how do we get our technology folks to help us fight for intellectual
freedom instead of unilaterally making fear-based decisions? Does any
technology post-secondary program from which we draw candidates for
these positions address selection policies. developmental needs of kids,
or censorship issues? I doubt it. I get e-mails like this one from a
Florida librarian way too often:
> In my school district, the technology department, in all its infinite
> wisdom, blocks Wikipedia. They did this without asking one media
> specialist his/her expert opinion. ... The media specialists met as a
> group and talked to the head tech guy, and his answer was, it had to
be done in "real time."
> Apparently there were too many students wondering how the human body
works.
> It seems to me that might be why we have one of the highest rates of
> pregnant teens. I can't quite get them to see it my way. And so it
goes.
The fight is real and it is important. And it requires courage and
strategy. It requires an alliance between librarians and technologists.
There. It's good to let off a little steam. Sorry for the rant.
All the best,
Doug
Doug Johnson
Director of Media and Technology
Mankato Area Public Schools
Box 8713, 1351 S Riverfront Dr.
Mankato MN 56001-8714
Phone: 507-387-7698 x 473
E-mail: dougj@doug-johnson.com
Web: www.doug-johnson.com
Blue Skunk Blog: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/
You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
Mark Twain
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