INTERNET FILTERING

[Bess Moffitt]

Bravo Chris,
As a parent and librarian, I can't help but put in my opinion.
My parents did not believe in censorship and neither do I. I was allowed to
read whatever I could get my hands on. Look where it got me...still in a
library, and I don't read comics any more.

It is my responsibility what my children are doing. If my 12 year old goes
to unacceptable sites, she knows that I am going to find out because I am
close by and know more about computers that she does! Kids are curious, but
this one closes her eyes if there is kissing in a movie.

I want to decide what my children are doing, but if they get to a certain
age and don't know how to evaluate the useful from the muck then how will
they develop some skills to discriminate? There is plenty of garbage on the
web that has nothing to do with pornography. Just teach them some criticle
thinking and we would all be better off.

Bess Moffitt
*************************

At 02:20 PM 6/23/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>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
>
>
*********************************************************
Bess Moffitt, Assistant Librarian
San Francisco University High School
3065 Jackson St., San Francisco, CA 94115
VOICE: 415-447-3124	FAX: 415-447-5801
E-MAIL: moffitt at sfuhs.pvt.k12.ca.us
<http://www.sfuhs.pvt.k12.ca.us/HTML/library/library.html>