Internet Censorship: How it effects education
How does Internet censorship effect education? That is the question that needs to be answered. Censorship cannot be completely done away with in schools, society, and the law would simply not allow it. The internet also cannot be completely censored, because the technology for that simply does not exist. People have various stances on this issue and they can be split up into four general groups: The Government, parents, students, and teachers. They all have different views on the issue, although who is right or wrong has not yet been decided.
First, it is important to know a few facts. Under present United States Federal Law, the CIPA, or the (Children's Internet Protection Act) requires that any educational institution that receives federal funding for technology, to install and implement technology for the purpose of filtering and/or blocking un-allowed material on that facility's internet. The actual law states as follows; "To require the installation and use by schools and libraries of a technology for filtering or blocking material on the Internet on computers with Internet access to be eligible to receive or retain universal service assistance." This law was passed by congress and signed by President Clinton in the year 2000. (NET BLOCK) Teachers and student over the age of seventeen. are legally exempt from the CIPA, meaning that Internet blocking does not have to effect them, although many institutions still use it because it keeps teaches on track with their job, as well as students.
The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) performed a study on the accessibility of information on school computers operating with two very popular brands of internet blocking software, N...
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...happen if censorship on the internet in schools was to be gotten rid of altogether?
Works Cited
Electronic Frontier Foundation. Internet Blocking in Public Schools. San Francisco, California. (PDF version of document downloaded November 12, 2009)
Internet Censorship. 5 Mar. 2002. Cyber College. 21 Oct. 2009 .
Petress, Ken. The Role of Censorship in School. Sept. 2005. 2 Nov. 2009 .
Usman, Qazi. The Internet Censorship Controversy. n.d. Virginia Tech University. 10 Nov. 2009 .
Vandergrift, Kay E. CENSORSHIP, THE INTERNET, INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM, AND YOUTH. n.d. Rutgers University. 2 Oct. 2009 .
Deciding on who makes the rules for censorship is tricky though. Should the power be in the people or in the government? Censorship should be permitted in limited cases… only a local government - preferably a school district - should be in charge with decisions to censor” (Wilson 6). While censorship is needed, people such as parents should decide how much or how little their child is censored such as what movies they watch or what internet sites they can go on. In Fahrenheit 451, the government controls all. As Bradbury notes in his work, “And then the government, seeing how advantageous it was to have people reading about only passionate lips and the fist in stomach, circled the situation with your fire-eaters” (Bradbury 85). With censorship, the government could go too far, which is why it is a good idea to let every state or county create their own rules and guidelines for censorship. As kids get older, censorship should be slightly let up.They should be old enough to make their own decisions. Wilson states,“Much of the debate over censorship revolves around protection children… School district trustees much balance their responsibility to ensure everyone is granted access to the best education… however, some materials are inappropriate for small children” (Wilson 6). Censorship should be used to protect children. Not just from websites, but websites with people that could harm them on it. Yet there comes an age
...eory censorship thus prevents students from thinking. There are ways of teaching our children morals, but censorship is not one of them. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Every burned book enlightens the world."
Murdoch, S. J., & Roberts, H. (2013). Internet Censorship and Control [Guest editors' introduction]. IEEE Internet Computing, 17(3), 6-9. doi:10.1109/MIC.2013.5
...Dr. Sara. "How the Mind of a Censor Works: the Psychology of Censorship." School Library Journal, January 1996, p. 23-27.
Censorship is “the restriction or removal of information, or the prevention of free expression” (Taylor 8). There are many things that can be censored such as books, movies, TV shows, newspapers, and the way people dress. People censor things for a number of reasons- they do not agree with it, find it offensive, or think that it is just inappropriate in general. Different people consider different things inappropriate, so the content of what is censored varies. Anyone can censor, including parents, teachers, school officials, and board members (Taylor 8-10) Many things are censored in schools and places where children are present because parents do not want their kids to be exposed to inappropriate content (Taylor 10). Students are entitled to their First Amendment rights just as much as adults are, but schools still censor things like newspapers, books, and clothing.
For years, the topic of censorship has a been highly controversial issue. Over the centuries, many people have fought and died to gain the freedom of speech and ideas. The impression that creative ideas and important information should be hidden from society and controlled by the government, is a discordant one. Censorship is the act of controlling the freedom of speech, ideas, and information. Unsuprisingly, people in the nineteenth or the twentieth century had no problem with the controversial issue of censorship. A century ago, technology just started to make itself known in the world. People had the radio, the television, and the typewriter. Although the internet was invented, it was hardly used as frequently as individuals, in modern times,
Libaries across the nation are in a dilemma, should they filter what information is available to it's visitors via the Internet? This scenario is being debated all across the United States. Many states are arguing over whether or not the library has the authority to limit what information is accessible via the Internet computers at the library. The argument is over the First Amendment right of Free Speech. There are family groups who are actually in favor of allowing unfiltered access on the Internet, not what one would think. These groups also support the notion of parents being with their children while they are on the Internet, not something that all parents have the luxury of being able to do. Other groups want the public Internet access points to be filtered, making the claim that any child at anytime can be harmfully exposed to Internet information that they may incorrectly understand. I will be showing options on what the local library should do, and explaining how I think the issue should be addressed from a topology standpoint as well as a technical one.
Gottschalk, Lana. “Internet filters in public libraries: do they belong?” Library Student Journal 2006: vol. 1. Accessed 31 March 2008. http://www.librarystudentjournal.org/index.php/lsj/article/view/25/18
...Kids Points of View: Internet Censorship." 2011. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 21 March 2012.
McCarthy, M. (2005). THE CONTINUING SAGA OF INTERNET CENSORSHIP: THE CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT. Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, (2), 83-101.
I believe censorship is harmful in the school system because it will get students ready for the real world . the first reason for believing censorship is harmful because live in the realistic world because you also learn valuable lessons. Another reason is people have the right to voice their opinion and express what they want to say. The last reason reason is that it is people banned books from schools and libraries.
Do you want our future generations being exposed to violence, hate, sex, illegal substances, and false information, and then one day think it would be cool or alright to try these things? The internet is filled with dangerous information, that children should never have the freedom to access. Children learn from example, and if they search, watch, or read something on the web that could be potentially dangerous, they could be influenced or curious and think that it would be alright to imitate one day. If our children now are viewing these things, it could mean that are future generations can grow to be more violent and our world could become more dangerous than it already is today. Censorship is necessary if we plan on having our kids grow up in the safest environment possible.
Censorship is blocking or hiding something that is considered unacceptable to the public eye or a group of a certain age. In looking at the effects of censorship on society, it is apparent that it can both be beneficial and harmful. Censorship is seen to be beneficial through preventing dangerous people from viewing government documents and preventing children from viewing inappropriate content. Censorship can be harmful when it comes to taking away rights declared in the Constitution and setting unequal standards for men and women. These examples show how effects censorship has on society can be both good and bad. Looking at facts and credible opinions is a way to truly see how censorship has negative and positive effects.
The Internet is an extremely educational and communicative tool. Everyone can access a tremendous amount of information and connect with people on the other end of the planet; it is capable of doing everything. Nowadays, the society is facing a variety of challenges and controversies which are mostly related to religion, morality, the economic crisis, etc., and the most talked-about issue in today’s world is “Internet censorship”. Although the Internet is very useful, many people are suggesting the idea of censoring the Internet; however, the government should not censor the Internet because a free and open Internet usage has many positive impacts on people’s lives.
Because of the Internet it is possible for schools to have access to books with out having them on the shelves of school libraries. New books and research studies are posted on the Internet daily for the world to read. In the past if you where from a poor school or a shelterd community that banded books from school libraries you may not be able to read some important infromantion. Making the student that had the oportunity to read and learn this new infromation better educated than a person whom did not have the same books in there school library shelves. The author of the article The internet as a classroom explains this fact when she says, "We have arrived at a new moment in history: a moment in which such terms as class, race, gender, sexuality, nationality and ideology are no longer useful" (Hendricks). This statement applies to education because information can be found on any subject on the web. If a school has a ban on reading a book a student can still find and read it online if he or she wants to. Censorship is not possible because of the technology called Internet.