Laura Adams
SLM 521
June 2002
Elective 10 –
Filtering
The internet provides a
vast variety of information, almost at the click of a button. However, not all this information is
appropriate for children. Teachers and
parents must be responsible for monitoring and controlling children’s
access. Filtering is one tool which can
be used to attempt to protect children from access to this unwanted
information. Many commercial filtering
software packages are available but as with any other tool that is considered a
means of censorship, there are aspects that are both good and bad. The
following is a summary of some of issues associated with the use of filtering
programs.
|
|
PROS |
|
CONS |
|
1 |
The use of a commercial filtering software
package is an easy way for parents and educators to control and monitor their
children’s internet use. |
|
The information on the web is constantly changing,
making it difficult (if not impossible) for the software to keep up, giving
parents and teachers a false sense of security. |
|
2 |
Filtering software provides some level of control
and /or monitor when adult supervision is not possible. |
|
Some filtering software programs determine which
sites will be blocked using only certain keywords, causing some sites to be
accidentally blocked (i.e. sites about breast cancer). These companies are not reviewing the sites
before blocking them and have no human review. |
|
3 |
Some filtering software allows educators or
parents to monitor all internet activity including email, chat sessions, time
online, file transfer, etc. |
|
Some filtering programs have been found to block sites
deliberately, for reasons other than content. |
|
4 |
Some filtering software packages give the
educator or parent the ability to review blocked sites, revise them and add
additional sites as they feel appropriate. (i.e. Net Nanny and Cyber Snoop) |
|
When investigating options for the purchasing of a
filtering software product, it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to
get a list of the blocked sites. |
|
5 |
In order to receive E-Rate funding (financial
support to offset costs associated with telecommunications and internet connection
costs), a school or library must implement a filtering system. |
|
When using filtering software, someone else is
determining what your children are able to access and it may be too
limiting. Access may be restricted
from a site for both legitimate and illegitimate reasons. These reasons may include a keyword / topic
that they feel is not appropriate no matter what context the word is used in or because they do not
hold the same political or religious views. |
There
are other way in which adults can provide restrictions / guidelines for
children and their use on the internet.
These include settings available through the commercial IPS provider,
using rating systems, creating contour sites, developing detailed activities /
lessons which guide the child to appropriate sites and creating a favorites or
bookmark sites that have been pre-determined to be appropriate. Even with all the options available, the most
effective way to know that your child is accessing only appropriate sites is to
be there when they are on the internet, parental involvement cannot be replaced
by anything.
For additional information see
E-Rate Funding – Lower
Hudson Regional Information Center
(http://www2.lhric.org/security/filtering.html)
Peacefire.org –
(http://www.peacefire.org/)
What is internet filtering?
– filteringinfo.org sponsored by N2H2
Internet Content Rating Associations - (http://www.icra.org)
KidsClick – Selection vs.
Filtering in Kids Searching (http://www.worldsofsearching.org/world8.html)