So, what’s the best way to protect kids from online predators?
** Updates below.
Why, simple: You just go to the public schools and block access to any kind of technology that could put them at risk. At least, that’s the answer if you’re Congress. From the C|Net article:
[Rep. Michael] Fitzpatrick and fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, on Wednesday endorsed new legislation that would cordon off access to commercial Web sites that let users create public “Web pages or profiles” and also offer a discussion board, chat room, or e-mail service. [...]
Fitzpatrick’s bill, called the Deleting Online Predators Act, or DOPA, is part of a new, poll-driven effort by Republicans to address topics that they view as important to suburban voters. [...]“My bill is both timely and needed and will be very well-accepted, certainly by the constituents I represent,” Fitzpatrick said.
No, Rep. Fitzpatrick, this bill is reactionary, statist, ignorant of technology, and almost certain to do more harm to students than good. Reactionary because it is trying to solve a problem by attacking the medium rather than the cause. Statist because it assumes that the government, not parents and schools, are the best agents for educating kids on how to use technology safely. Ignorant because it opens the door for a wide range of educationally useful web tools like del.icio.us or wikis (or maybe even a few simple blogs) to be placed beyond the reach of the kids who could use them. As one commenter in this post wrote: “We should definitely ban pencils, pens, paper, etc. because students can write offensive things and share them with others. We may want to look at banning markers too.”
Much more here, here, and here. Where’s my Congressman’s address? And while we’re at it, whatever happened to Republicans being the party of limited government?
**Updates:
- LizDitz has a huge roundup here. (Thanks for the comment and the tip, Liz.)
- Doug at the Blue Skunk Blog has a challenge for action on this. Check back here at CO9s this afternoon for the letter I’ll be sending to my Congressman.
[tags]DOPA, Social software, Educational technology[/tags]
Here’s my take, including a clip from the post above
http://www.castingoutnines.net/2006/05/11/so-whats-the-best-way-to-protect-kids-from-online-predators/
Good thoughts and good question about limited government: Where is the party of limited government these days? I don’t think we have one. And we should. Tax breaks in the face of ridiculous deficit spending is ridiculous. But we need to look at ourselves first before we condemn the government’s fiscal irresponsibility, I think. Too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck and borrowing against our futures. We need to stop this irresponsible behavior now, at individual levels and governmental levels.
I hope more voices will chime in on this debate. Obviously this group of politicos is going to draw press attention, and that is probably their goal. I hope we’ll hear some more reasonable voices speak out and get mainstream press coverage as well on this….