Maywin’s S640 Blog Posting #5
More on Filtering
Unfortunately, Censorship can be strongly motivated by the fear of losing control over children rather then by the concern their childrens’ moral development. Many times fear can cause people to overreact; especially when their own children are involved.
Thinking back, I raised two children by myself, and I remembered the anxious feelings I experienced whenever my girls were exposed to outside influences. Now, the outside influences can be right in our own homes. This was illustrated by Shellie's experience with her daughter and their computer. She was understandably anxious when, for just a few seconds, her child may have observed questionable content surrounding a popular children’s character. Her natural instinct as a parent kicked in and she quickly talked with her child in order to get a better picture of the things she saw, and to explain the situation to her child as well as she could under the circumstances.
Regarding the filtering issue I realize there are extremists such as the Christian Right, in every nook and cranny; however, I truly understand the parental side of the censorship/filtering/IF issues. I can also understand how intelligent people can and do support having filters in the library. Maybe the parents who do not monitor their children as closely as Shellie and others like her, would feel more secure knowing their children were safe (with safe including filtering) in their neighborhood library. I say this based on my experience with people who leave their children unattended in libraries. Responsible parents don’t do this; Irresponsible parents do.
And, if I am just now learning about the plus and minuses of the filtering process, you can believe there are many more people out there who do not know these things. Or at least not both sides of the issue.
We are right back to the importance of education and advocacy. How are people going to learn to make educated choices if no one is there to teach them? It seems that librarians have a lot on their plates.
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Censorship is definitely motivated by the fear of loss of control. And aren't some libra rians also motivated by that? Some librarians may fear the loss of various freedoms and access for their patrons, but others may fear their loss of control over what people do with the information they are given or that they access on their own within the library.
ReplyDeleteYes and yes. I guess much human behavior is based on fear, eh?
ReplyDeleteYou're right in saying that education and advocacy are critical in dealing with a lot of these IF issues.
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