Friday, August 04, 2006

DOPA article

Just been o my feeds and read an article that what I learned today pointed me to. It deals with the new DOPA act and is on the CBS site, entitled
House Misfires On Internet Safety. It covers the stupidity of the lw, with suh information as:-

If children are going to get into trouble online, chances are it won't be at school. They'll be home, they'll be at a friend's house or they could even be completely away from adult supervision using their mobile phones. Schools and libraries are relatively protected environments where adults are never far away and, for the most part, computers are in public locations that make it difficult for users to hide what they're doing.

If anything, schools and libraries should be encouraging kids to use blogging and social networking services. They have enormous educational potential for such things as writing, interviewing, collaborative research, media literacy, and photography, but even if not used as part of a formal supervised education program, they encourage kids to communicate and reach out to others.


Recommend reading for concerned librarians and parents alike

2 comments:

Jonathan Kelley said...

Any libraries who have set up Social Networking Accounts should post them at http://teentechweek.wikispaces.com/Online+Social+Networking

great wiki which will help people understand the benefits of SNSs

Anonymous said...

On Wednesday, July 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the amended H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), by a vote of 410-15. We believe the legislation will now go to the Senate, which may or may not have time to vote on this before their session ends for the year.

Please contact your Senators about the importance of social networking sites. Share with them personal stories about how you or your library patrons use these sites in educational ways. Let them know what negative impact of DOPA or similar legislation will have on libraries and library users if it passes.

Background information about this issue can be viewed on the ALA Web site located at:

http://donwood.alablog.org/blog/_archives/2006/8/1/2185440.html

Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA)

Online Social Networks

Resolution in Support of Online Social Networks (PDF)

Tell Your Senators Why DOPA Is Bad for Libraries

Larry Magid on the Importance of Blogging and Social Networking Services