Filters

Before I begin, let me remind you of my liberal leanings here, so don't be too surprised when I come out against filters. Also remember, my students are highschoolers, I do believe some filters are appropriate for elementary students.

I not only write (or try to write) this blog, I also enjoy reading the many blogs that are out there about libraries, books, and technologies. Many of my colleaques provide links to wonderful resources that would be very helpful, if I could access them! There are some worthwhile vieos about technology and libraries on YouTube, but my district (or the state) blocks YouTube and other Web 2.0 sites. I am also unable to read some blogs, including my own last week! I tried to show a student this blog and he was going to help me upload a podcast, but it was blocked by Websense, the state filter. It was very frustrating, needless to say.

I agree that there is inappropriate material on the Internet. I also agree that many of our students should not be viewing this material. However, in the library at least, our job is to provide information. Many students have given up researching in here because they cannot find the information online that they need due to the filters. I have heard many students say that they will just do all their research at home, and then they want to fool around the rest of the class and distract their classmates who are actually working. We have the opportunity to educate our students on proper searching and evaluating of websites, but that opportunity is lost when many sites are blocked. Instead, we lose credibility with our students because we are not part of their world.

We also need to bring parents and the community on board. Many communities cooperate and teach street safety to children. It is time for us all to cooperate and teach online safety to our children and teenagers. We do not prevent children from playing in the park or going to the mall, instead we teach them not to talk to strangers and to look both ways before crossing the street. Let's do the same for online safety. I-Safe is a program our district is using (check out www.isafe.org ) which has many great resources for online safety. We need to trust our students for them to have trust in us.

The web is here to stay. There are many wonderful sites and tools for communication and collaboration available that are easily adapted for educational use. Let's learn how to do that, instead of refusing to see their value.

Thanks for listening.