What Is the Objective of Internet Censorship in Public Schools?
Shawn Nephi Klaxx
What is the objective of internet censorship in public schools? Is it effective and does it do more good than bad? When talking about internet censorship in schools, heated debates are always bound to arise on what they should block, how strict they should be, and if they should even be there. The topic of fettered or unfettered internet is a hot topic and can be both good and bad for education. When talking about something that sounds like such a small topic it is important to remember that everyday our lives and the internet are becoming more and more intertwined. Now phones and computers are almost always linked to the internet. In this ever evolving world that is becoming more and more technology reliant it is important to teach youth the importance of internet safety. Not just what sites to visit, but also how to do thing securely on the internet and how to make the internet secure when it is not already. In society today most hold the view that the best way to teach youth how to stay safe on the internet is by blocking them from certain websites. This is done by using a proxy that detects keywords and when a keyword trips the server it blocks the website. “Too often filters are blunt instruments, cutting off access to ideas just because a word or two are regarded as so loaded that they trigger automated censorship.” (Paulson, Ken. First Amendment Center) “Entire categories of Web sites had been blocked, including those that involved games, violence, weapons, even swimsuits, said Judy Gressel, a librarian. “It just got to the point that it became hard to conduct research,” she said, adding that students could not read sites about, say, military weapons for a history paper.”(Hu, Winnie, “A Call for Opening Up Web Access at Schools, for Learning’s Sake”)When doing research for school projects it makes it hard to find good research if whenever you search for something it gets blocked just because
What is the objective of internet censorship in public schools? Is it effective and does it do more good than bad? When talking about internet censorship in schools, heated debates are always bound to arise on what they should block, how strict they should be, and if they should even be there. The topic of fettered or unfettered internet is a hot topic and can be both good and bad for education. When talking about something that sounds like such a small topic it is important to remember that everyday our lives and the internet are becoming more and more intertwined. Now phones and computers are almost always linked to the internet. In this ever evolving world that is becoming more and more technology reliant it is important to teach youth the importance of internet safety. Not just what sites to visit, but also how to do thing securely on the internet and how to make the internet secure when it is not already. In society today most hold the view that the best way to teach youth how to stay safe on the internet is by blocking them from certain websites. This is done by using a proxy that detects keywords and when a keyword trips the server it blocks the website. “Too often filters are blunt instruments, cutting off access to ideas just because a word or two are regarded as so loaded that they trigger automated censorship.” (Paulson, Ken. First Amendment Center) “Entire categories of Web sites had been blocked, including those that involved games, violence, weapons, even swimsuits, said Judy Gressel, a librarian. “It just got to the point that it became hard to conduct research,” she said, adding that students could not read sites about, say, military weapons for a history paper.”(Hu, Winnie, “A Call for Opening Up Web Access at Schools, for Learning’s Sake”)When doing research for school projects it makes it hard to find good research if whenever you search for something it gets blocked just because