** 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]
8 responses so far ↓
liz ditz // 11 May 2006 at 10:52 pm
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/
Wesley Fryer // 11 May 2006 at 11:41 pm
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….
Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » A letter to my Congressman regarding DOPA // 12 May 2006 at 3:25 pm
[...] Wesley Fryer: Good thoughts and good question about limited government: Where is the party of… [...]
Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » Let them have pencil cases // 19 May 2006 at 12:43 pm
[...] Technorati Tags: iPod, Technology ban We’ve seen several instances lately of proposed (and enacted) technology bans in public schools. This time, a Scottish teacher’s union wants to ban iPods and other eletronic devices, because “they cause too much disruption”. Here’s the complete story, but check out this quote: Bill Cook, president in Scotland, also wants make-up banned from schools. He said: “No-one needs games or musical gadgets. Rather than spending money on an iPod or a make-up bag for their children, parents would do better to give them a pencil case.” [...]
Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » How is technology like ketchup? // 22 May 2006 at 7:58 pm
[...] There’s also a pretty obvious parallel here to a string of posts we’ve seen here on banning technology — banning technology because of the irresponsible behavior of a few people is only going to result in students breaking more rules to use technology in legitimate ways that ought not to have been restricted in the first place. [...]
Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » Students writing about DOPA // 24 May 2006 at 9:05 am
[...] Vicki at Cool Cat Teacher Blog has given her students an assignment asking for their opinions about the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA). They are basically all against it, for the same basic reason. Read some of the responses to see if you can distill what that reason is. (All emphases appear in the original post.) [...]
Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » Notes from the SEAM symposium: Morning session // 8 June 2006 at 5:24 pm
[...] The last slide of the talk included two links to my del.icio.us bookmarks (crypto and math), my email, and the URL for this blog. It struck me as ironic that of those four pieces of info, possibly three of them will be inaccessible to the teachers due to blocking of web technology. I specifically told the teachers this, and if they have a hard time getting to my stuff because of blocking software, complain to their principals and board members — tell them that because of web blocking, they are unable to access interesting and useful professional development materials that other school districts might allow. I think that people who want DOPA-like restrictions simply don’t understand what they are causing students and faculty to miss out on. [...]
Casting Out Nines»Blog Archive » Congress passes “Deleting Online Predators Act” // 27 July 2006 at 1:50 pm
[...] The vote was ridiculously one-sided: 420 in favor to 15 against. Not surprising, as we have an election coming up and nobody wants to have to explain the nuances of the effects of technology legislation on personal freedoms while their opponent paints them as being soft on child predators. [...]
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