Hi everyone,
I've just posted a blog entry in response to recent posts by Wesley
Fryer and Miguel Guhlin regarding online censorship in schools. Some
school districts in Texas and elsewhere have started blocking all Web
content that uses the word [EMAIL PROTECTED] (replace the @ with an "a" and
you'll know the word I mean - I don't want this message blocked by
filters either.) This website has become a magnet of controversy as of
late, and it's reached the point where mere mention of it is taboo. This
filtering is preventing educational bloggers and teachers from
discussing [EMAIL PROTECTED] in any context, whether it relates to child safety,
media literacy or another topic. Miguel has even started to organize an
online protest campaign.
A bit from my blog:
As Miguel notes on his blog, important educational blogs like Wesley's
site and the techLEARNING blog are getting censored arbitrarily because
they are trying to raise awareness about sites like [EMAIL PROTECTED], encouraging
critical examinations by educators and a greater emphasis on media
literacy. To engage in a constructive debate about sites like this, you
have to mention them. And preferably link to them. And these acts are
getting bloggers banned by schools.
While I strongly am against any form of censorship, I am thoroughly
disgusted by school districts that allow their filters to prevent
educators from engaging in professional discourse. I have lost track of
the number of times that I've posted a message to my WWWEDU discussion
list and received a bunch of autoreplies from school districts saying
that teachers there won't be reading my post because they contain
"inappropriate content." Usually, these posts have to do with cases of
school filtering censorship, controversial sites like [EMAIL PROTECTED] or other
media literacy-related challenges faced by the modern educator. The
filtering software used to supposedly protect children is preventing
educators from taking an active role in understanding and discussing the
complexities of Internet use in the classroom. Schools may claim "in
loco parentis" when describing filters used to protect children. But
what are they trying to protect teachers from? Being better users of
technology? Being responsible, informed educators?
...The whole thing reminds me of Those We Don't Speak Of, the mysterious
creatures in M. Night Shyamalan's film, The Village. The parents of the
village were so paranoid about their children coming to harm's way that
they wouldn't even say the name of the creatures that were supposedly
lurking in the local forest. We seem to have reached that point in
education - where politicians and administrators are so paranoid that
educators can't even speak the names of things that may lurk in the
virtual forest, lest their students be corrupted by mere mention of them....
The Internet is indeed our civic space - my space, your space. *Our
space.* How can educators educate our children to use the Internet as
responsible 21st century citizens when we can't even speak about the
things that might affect them?
Read the full blog entry:
http://www.andycarvin.com
Permalink:
http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/04/the_mword_that_will.html
digg link:
http://digg.com/technology/The_Word_that_Will_Get_Your_Blog_Censored_by_Texas_Schools_Districts
thanks,
ac
--
------------------------------
Andy Carvin
acarvin (at) edc . org
andycarvin (at) yahoo . com
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.andycarvin.com
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