CIPA and Blocked Sites... the Truth!

In library classes and in technology integration classes for my library and technology teaching certifications I learned about the anachronisms for the various acts that protect our children online. The law of the land now is CIPA. The Children’s Internet Protection Act was enacted in 2001 by the federal government to make sure kids were not exposed to offensive Internet content on school and library computers. It evolved from COPA, the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 that was a direct response to the Supreme Court decision striking down the Communications Decency Act in 1997. While I learned a lot about how the acts evolved and what each was supposed to accomplish, nothing prepared me for the frustration of teaching with a website one day and going in to use it the next day only to find it was blocked by district filters. Recently in her blog post “Straight from the DOE: Dispelling Myths About Blocked Sites,” Tina Barseghian spelled out just what I was taught and wish administrators with the block everything mentality would understand: YouTube is not the enemy, websites can be unblocked for teachers, broad filters are not the answer, unblocking some sites will not cause the district to lose E-rate, teachers and librarians should be equipped to teach students to be responsible digital citizens, and teachers are not the bad guys and if they ask to teach with a sight they should be trusted. For more explanation read Barseghian’s post, it is a breath of fresh unfiltered air.

Protecting Reputations Online

In light of the newest situation where a Bangor, Pennsylvania teacher's aide had a nude photo of herself passed around her school, it is becoming more and more important to protect your reputation online. Young people do not have any problems posting pictures of themselves and their friends online in less than flattering situations and sometimes compromising positions. While it may seem harmless now what are those pictures going to do to future reputations? I once heard New York Times columnist David Pogue say never to post anything that you would not want your grandmother to see and that things posted online never stay where you put them (people "borrow" stuff and re-post to other sites). There is a new Commoncraft Show Video called "Protecting Reputations Online in Plain English" It is aimed at young people to try to get them to be more careful about what they post. The video is for evaluation only but as usual, Lee Lefever gets it right.