I stumbled on this article while browsing one day. I thought it was interesting because the author, Stephen Lendman, discusses the issues we are covering in class. He approaches online censorship by addressing the COPA and then continues to discuss other areas online that are now being censored including craig's list, social networking in general, and general conversation. He said the Communications Decency Act has limited what is allowed online use in school and libraries and explains how it violates freedom of speech. The author compares the internet to a "soon to be" cable like company where big companies will provide access like tv station and will also limit access. He explains the internet is the last hope for democracy to protect the first amendment.
This author really discusses a lot of issues. It is a great reference article to issues facing online censorship. He uses describes the several attempts made by the federal government to gain control over waht is on the internet and what we able to view. It seems to me the government is using controls to censor children, in the name of protection. Call me paranoid but I think it is censorship in general and we call it child protection. I think parents should protect their children and censor information they see on the internet, not the government. I feel like our society has taken the role of parenting from parents and expects schools, libraries, and cable companies to protect the minds of our children. It is the role of the government to make these rules to protect children, it should be on the parents.
URL: http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/2009/052209Lendman.shtml
Emily
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I completely agree with you. Where are the parents today? Why are they not parenting? As I high school teacher, I think that for many parents, they think once their kids are in high school, they are on their own. The exact opposite is true- they need their parents more than ever. That being sad, I don't blame some of my students for wanting to put some distance between themselves and their families.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that society thinks schools/teacher are glorified baby sitters. I'm so sick and tired of that attitude. The philosophy of our principal is to call the parents. Most of the parents DO NOT CARE, and when that is the case, I do think that the teacher/administrator need to step in. However, instead of makind excuses, how can we change this problem. How can we make parents be parents again? They need to be aware of what their kids are doing - at all times, in and out of school.