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>From: Jim Beal <bealj@somonauk.net> > >It is interesting that so many people are willing to accept Wikipedia. By >its own admission: > >" Users should be aware that not all articles are of encyclopedic quality >from the start: they may contain false or debatable information. Indeed, >many articles start their lives as displaying a single viewpoint; and, >after >a long process of discussion, debate, and argument, they gradually take >on a >neutral point of view reached through consensus." Compared to this: The effort to pull ideology out of schools is evident in battles over history textbooks. ... (M)ost students read carefully censored books. The pursuit of 'neutrality' often leads to censorship. The American Textbook Publishers Institute has counseled publishers 'to avoid statements that might prove offensive to economic, religious, racial or social groups or any civil, fraternal, patriotic, or philanthropic societies in the whole United States.' Textbook manufacturers appear to have responded in some cases by deleting materials reflecting cultural differences that might have offended someone. Interest group pressures from diverse ideological camps have resulted in the deletion of materials that would undercut the perception of an American monopoly on decency, as variously defined. Business interests have occasionally intervened in textbook selection to remove materials considered hostile to the "American system." American policy is sanitized. Books rarely report questionable government action. ... Perhaps the most striking feature of history textbooks is that they minimize the role of dissent in our history. Government decisions that appear decent or beneficial are often portrayed without any of the political controversy that created them. Gottlieb, "In the Name of Patriotism: The Constitutionality of 'Bending' History in Public Secondary Schools." 62 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 497, 504 (1987). Note 1987 - decades before the Texas Textbook Massacre. I assume you are also blocking Fox News. Or Perhaps Huffington Post. Actually, you probably ought to block all of the Internet information resources. Because, as compared to Wikipedia, anyone can post anything on any site and there are no mechanisms for others to correct it. And by any chance Jim are you using the filter that comes from the company that has close corporate relations with the American Family Association? Go here: <http://www.bsecure.com/offers/afafilter.aspx?13850> Note the press release on the bsafeonline site: http://secure2.bsafeonline.com/News/8e6Home.aspx “Florida-based Bsecure Technologies and California-based 8e6 Technologies today announce the beginning of a powerful collaboration aimed at expanding upon the companies’ best-of-breed technologies by providing the first, truly integrated client/server Internet Security solution.” Also here: http://www.8e6.com/partners/technology-partners/bsafe-online-inc.html. “A vertical service provider (VSP), Bsafe Online distributes and supports new and growing lines of Internet filtering and security applications. Using the 8e6 Database, Bsafe currently markets a client software version entitled 8e6Home.” Wikipedia appears to me to be a microcosm of the Internet. Where it is necessary to exercise skills in the assessment of the credibility of the information, as well as the need to avoid material that is either not appropriate to the task or perhaps not appropriate. But repeating what I started saying in the late 90's: We have to help young people learn to use the filtering software that resides under the hardware that sits on their shoulders. And unless and until we realize this as out objective we will be disadvantaging students in the preparation for their future. And, no, this does not mean I advocate against all protection technologies. Children do not have the ability to keep themselves safe online. Protection technologies can help keep them in safer places - just like fenced play yards. But fences playyards do not work and are developmentally inappropriate for teens. They all know how to get around your filter. The intelligent use of a filter can provide a warning that the site about to be accessed may not be appropriate and thus care should be taken. Nancy -- Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D. Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use http://csriu.org nwillard@csriu.org --- Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb Please include your name, email address, and school or professional affiliation in each posting. To unsubscribe send the following command to: LISTSERV@H-NET.MSU.EDU SIGNOFF EDTECH
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