INTERNET FILTERING

[Chris Lott]

>Thanks Sheryl.  My pro-family activist friends think I'm making it up
>sometimes when I tell them there are librarians who blame the parents when
>this happens.
>So I forwarded this to all of them, including Mike Millen, the attorney
>representing the mother.

Being pro-family is about ENHANCING parental responsibility, not denying it.
Being pro-family does not absolve a parent who neglects his or her duties,
it cannot assuage the frustration of a parent who has made a mistake, and it
most certainly shouldn't be used as a wedge with which to further a narrow,
conservative agenda-- something which has nothing to do with loving children
and families.

While you are at it, forward this too:

A library is meant to be a repository of knowledge as undiluted as possible
by the political and social motives of any individual or group. To that end
there will always be information available there that offends *someone's*
sensibility. If a child enters a library and puts his hands on material that
you find offensive, then perhaps you should re-evaluate your decision to
allow him free reign within an institution whose collections must cater to a
larger variety of tastes than just your own. Perhaps as a parent you should
ask yourself why your child seeks such materials and why he was in such a
place without supervision. A library is not a romper-room, it is not a
babysitter, it is not a room with no sharp objects and padded walls... it is
not a place to leave your child to do as he pleases with tools that could
allow him to do something you think damaging anymore than you would let him
run around freely in a garage where he could accidentally cut off his
fingers with a tool that is quite wonderful at freeing rusty bolts. Of
course, I would assume that in this analogy you would then blame the
garage-owner for your fingerless child and then demand that all mechanics
have their tools taken away in an effort to assuage your own guilt.

The fault here lies with you, plain and simple.


c
--
Chris Lott -- fncll at uaf.edu -- (907)474-6350
Instructional Technology Specialist
Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks