Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Wired Women vs. Vulnerable Online Space.
I haven't finished this article yet about "wired bodies in wireless classroom" but I am at the part where teachers, parents, students, principals, and such are discussing the vulnerability of internet for young woman. In my opinion it is very simple to guard children, in general, from the "dangers" of the internet. I understand that parents dont want their kids seeing porn or being able to access websites with vulgar games, words, or movies, but there are ways to stop that. It is very simple to set up a network so that certain websites are blocked. It is as simple as setting up keywords that, if found on that site, it will be blocked from any user of the network (including faculty and administrators.) It's simple to set up networks that can only access a handful of sites as well. To me if schools take a little time in trainings on how to set up networks properly or hire someone (IT, etc) who has experience this whole debate should not be an issue. Maybe I'm missing the point of the argument that is being made in the article though?
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2 comments:
Some of the "dangers" of the internet are porn and violence, and you are right that it is comparatively easy to set up a blocking system to prevent access to these sites. Having spoken with students whose homes or schools have this, however, I know that it frequently will also block harmless or informationally useful sites that happen to have the word 'gun' or 'prostitute' on them. So it also has its drawbacks and frustrations.
Other dangers are more difficult to circumvent. Facebook, MySpace, chat rooms, even multi-player online games can be dangerous in that students may give out personal information about themselves or come into contact with sexual predators. If you limit internet access to only certain sites, then its utility is severely curtailed. So teachers, parents, etc. may worry and disagree about what is an appropriate balance between free access and safety.
The whole idea is difficult. Many schools ban myspace and facebook, which I can understand. But they go so far as to ban you tube not only for students but teachers too. Now it is true that you tube may have inappropriate things on it but it is also a very useful educational tool. My school did not ban you tube and I was able to use it to the advantage of the students.
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