Filtering Web Access? No Easy Answers

The decision handed down by the Supreme Court at the end of the '03-'04 term that kept in place an injunction blocking enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) "until its validity can be resolved" has brought to center-stage the question of what is the best way to offer our students online access while, at the same time, protecting them from the dangers and inappropriate content out there.

As a member of the adult community in a school that does not currently filter any of the online access provided to students or adults -- and especially as a member of the technology team -- we have struggled, especially in recent years, with how to balance what some might view as academic freedom or freedom of speech with the responsibilities we have, as faculty and staff, to provide protection for the students who are in our charge.

Three articles from the New York Times form a fairly good summary both of the case, the issues, and some thoughts about the effectiveness (or not) of filters. The article about the court case can be found here, a more general look at the challenges of writing a law such as the COPA that must meet the test of free speech as laid out in the US Constitution is here, and some thoughts on filtering can be found here.

One resource mentioned in the article that seems well worth taking a good long look at is called GetNetWise. In the brief look I was able to give it, there are obviously many very helpful tools and information that can help us as parents and teachers as we try to navigate these unclear waters.