Schools, libraries must block MySpace, Facebook

The House of Representatives just passed resolution 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), 410 to 15. If it becomes law (it has to make it through the senate and then the president), schools and libraries will be forced to block social networking sites like MySpace and chat rooms; if they don’t, they will lose their federal internet subsidies. Schools and libraries will be required “to protect minors from commercial social networking websites and chat rooms.”

Unfortunately, the reasoning behind this bill simply doesn’t make much sense — Texas Republican Ted Poe argued, “social networking sites such as MySpace and chat rooms have allowed sexual predators to sneak into homes and solicit kids.” Personally, I thought they came in the bedroom window, but what do I know. Sure, kids have run into sexual predators on the internet. Sure, parents need to talk to their kids and be aware of what they’re doing. This law, however, takes that control away from the parents and turns it into a badly thought out nanny-state policy.

Lots of teachers and libraries use such sites to help educate kids. Vicki A. Davis is one of them. She writes a journal about education and has written extensively about DOPA and its effects. As one of her students wrote, “These lawmakers need to ban ignorance not promote it.” The potential of the internet as an educational tool is enormous, and it’s only starting to be tapped into. This bill would kill a huge portion of that potential. Time to call your senators, kiddies!