the goblin in the library: May 2006 Archives
DOPAcabana
Great news! Our well-paid politicians in Washington have introduced a bill into Congress, with the oh-so-appropriate acronym of DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act). The law would require any schools and libraries that receive federal E-Rate money to block any social networking sites from their computers.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, “Wait a goshdarn minute! This sounds somewhat brainless and misdirected!” And you’d be wrong. It’s a whole lot of brainless and misdirected. Here are just a few reasons why:
1) The text of the bill defines “social network site” so broadly, it would include not just MySpace, Friendster and FaceBook but forums for cancer information, mental health, and the discussion of tabletop role-playing games.
2) The bill won’t actually delete online predators, or any other kind of predators. It will only keep people of all ages from accessing social internet sites at schools and libraries. At internet cafés? Nothing. At home? Nada.
3) Is there any easy way to set filters to block any and all social network sites? I don’t know of any. Would schools and libraries really have to enter the addresses for each and every site prohibited by the law in order to comply?
4) Does anyone really believe that this law would keep kids or predators from being on the same social network sites?
If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the back, hammering nails into my nose.
Meanwhile, on the internet social networking front, Meredith Farkas has written the most thorough look at libraries and social network sites I’ve seen in one blog post, and it should be required reading for any and all librarians who have anything to do with the internet and/or anyone under the age of 30.
See, here’s the thing: sites like MySpace or FaceBook may be fads (or they may not be), but the internet is inherently social, and it’s not going away anytime soon. It’s not like TV, it’s not like radio, it’s not like telephones. Librarians and teachers and politicians and parents have to stop treating it like it’s any of those. This isn’t about being cool or hip or intoxicated on technology, this is about understanding how human beings interact with each other. Legislation like DOPA just shows how utterly clueless people can be about both technology and human interaction.
Mais dia, menos dia, proibem a internet, a ver se restringem os predadores sexuais a actuar em jardins, igrejas e campos de escuteiros!
PS: É provável que isto passe!
PPS: É provável que este blog seja proibido nas escolas americanas só por ter a assinatura do movable type!
PPS: Nehemiah Scudder is alive!
