PUBLIC FORUM : MOST READERS SUGGEST LIMITED BLOCKS ON LIBRARY INTERNET ACCESS.Imposing censorship on use of public library computers would be counterproductive for many reasons. First, access to most pornographic Web sites costs money. Free porn sites offer no more than is available on any newsstand. Second, one form of censorship begets another. Do we go from limiting Web access to removing from library shelves books that the religious right finds objectionable, including some Mark Twain classics? Third, the amount of porn is minuscule minuscule Lowercase letters in calligraphy, in contrast to majuscule, or uppercase letters. Unlike majuscules, minuscules are not fully contained between two real or hypothetical lines; their stems can go above or below the line. compared to the vast amount of information available on the Web. And who is to define what constitutes pornography? Beware that it is not some panel of bluenoses who see sin in even innocent pleasures. Fourth, what does more harm to impressionable im·pres·sion·a·ble adj. 1. Readily or easily influenced; suggestible: impressionable young people. 2. young minds - the occasional sight of a woman's breast, or the rampant violence that is a TV constant? It strikes me as odd that right-wingers, who constantly carp about ``too much government interference,'' are those crying loudest for Web censorship - i.e., the government, in one form or another, telling us what we can or can't view on computer monitors. - Ken Fermoyle Woodland Hills As a member of the American Library Association American Library Association, founded 1876, organization whose purpose is to increase the usefulness of books through the improvement and extension of library services. , I am aware that it is policy to defend First Amendment rights always. However, it seems there are children's sections in public libraries where the books are age appropriate. Why not have filtered computers in the children's sections or at least several computers that are filtered and labelled as such in the computer area? Further, in book and magazine stores, pornographic items are usually behind a screen or in a separate room. Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California. , put any unfiltered Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. Remove this template after wikifying. This article has been tagged since adult machines behind a large screen, if you must have them; I don't want to see Internet porn as I walk by toward ``History'' or ``Mystery.'' - Mary Ambrose West Hills Am I living in the ``Twilight Zone''? The First Amendment protects porn in our libraries? Not only am I against children accessing pornographic Web sites, I don't want them made available to adults either. I'm no prude prude n. One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous. [French, short for prude femme, virtuous woman : Old French prude , but one's home or the porn shop down the block is the place for that. I think our society is rapidly approaching the tolerable limits of permissiveness; it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for the pendulum to reverse its direction. - Burton Becker Encino When I was a lad, libraries had a section that was off-limits to anyone under 18. Why not carry the same concept over to computers - have a screened-off section available to those 18 and older, and a section open to public view for everyone? - Leonard McGinnis Granada Hills I can hardly wait for the closed-door-session-appointed official in charge of regulating Internet porn. I already know the guidelines. ``I can't tell you what smut smut, name for an order of parasitic fungi (Ustilaginales) and the various diseases of plants caused by them. Smuts produce sootlike masses of spores on the host. is, but I know it when I see it The phrase "I know it when I see it" is a colloquial expression by which the user attempts to categorize an observable fact or event, although the category is subjective or lacks clearly-defined parameters. .'' - Brad Erickson Toluca Lake If adults want to watch porn, they are free to indulge in their own homes. But libraries are public, and there are children who would be subjected to this addictive, distorted and destructive behavior. I highly recommend installing software filters to protect our children. - K. O'Bryan Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. Protecting children from accessing pornographic materials on public library computers is a ticklish tick·lish adj. 1. Sensitive to tickling. 2. Easily offended or upset; touchy. 3. Requiring skillful or tactful handling; delicate: a ticklish matter. problem. Perhaps each library could have a separate section of computers for adult use only. The others would have software filters to block access to X-rated sites. The federal government might do well to keep out of this. Many people do not have their own computers, and the library is meeting their needs. Children should be encouraged to use the library, both for schoolwork and for pleasure. Parents should be discouraged from using our public libraries as a free baby-sitting service. - Emy Blackwell Granada Hills Keeping kids off the pornography highway in the public library is not that difficult. For computer wizards, it should be a piece of cake. Issue a card to adult patrons much like the grocery club cards available in some chains that give cash savings on groceries. Adults would have a special card to be swiped on a similar machine, giving them access to adult material on the Internet. Any and all computers to be used by adults would be in a separate section, just as the adult or reference books are now. I would prefer some form of enclosure on the adult-access computers. This would be a courtesy to all library users. If pornography on the Internet gets special attention and special assistance to keep it private, then whatever I do on the library computer is equally private. - Diana Peyton Chatsworth It used to be that being underage meant you couldn't go to a bookstore or liquor store to buy nudie
Minors were supposed to learn the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, and the idea that they had rules and regulations to adhere to adhere to verb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. , at least to the age of understanding the difference. Now we have a number of kooks, under the guise of ``freedom of information,'' who want to make porn available to anyone of any age at our local libraries, which people are supposed to attend for learning purposes, to stimulate the brain, to lift their educational spirits so they can attain higher goals than collecting cans and eating out of Dumpsters. These kooks want to turn our libraries into modern-day computerized peep shows a small show, or object exhibited, which is viewed through an orifice or a magnifying glass. See also: Peep . What will they offer our children next at libraries: booze, cigarettes, hookers, marijuana and anything goes? - M. Wilk Van Nuys I don't think anyone would dispute that our First Amendment rights are integral to the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and are what separates the United States of America UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The name of this country. The United States, now thirty-one in number, are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, from every other nation in the world. The issue here is one of personal choice and parental control. Public libraries are often the community centers for many neighborhoods, where children and seniors and everyone in between can go to read, hear lectures and listen to stories read to them. The library makes it possible for anyone to discover the world, enjoy great literature or do research for homework projects. And now the availability of the Internet serves to expand the horizons of those not fortunate enough to enjoy personal computing Refers to users working on their own computers rather than a terminal to a mainframe. Sometimes, the term refers to using computers at home for work and/or entertainment in contrast to business use only. See personal computer. . However, everything in the library is not necessarily for everyone. We as parents have the responsibility to monitor our children's actions as much as we can, in a responsible manner. To totally remove access to the Internet would only punish and severely restrict the majority of patrons who use this valuable research tool for expanding their horizons. We don't remove classics like ``Lolita'' or ``Tropic of Cancer Tropic of Cancer, parallel of latitude at 23°30' north of the equator; it is the northern boundary of the tropics. This parallel marks the farthest point north at which the sun can be seen directly overhead at noon; north of the parallel the sun appears less than ,'' books by Erica Jong Noun 1. Erica Jong - United States writer (born in 1942) Jong or the erotic novels of Anne Rice because we don't necessarily want our 12-year-olds to read them. We have to face the fact that we are in the Information Age, and a somewhat immoral age as well. More and more, standards are being relaxed in the movies and on TV and radio. Our children are exposed to more sexuality and violence than any other group of children before them, even in popular music. Kids are enterprising by nature: They are going to see this stuff somewhere or other, whether we like it or not. And it is much more likely that the kids who really want to see this stuff are viewing it at home or at a friend's house, not the public library. Perhaps it would be a good idea to dedicate one computer for children's use that has blocking software See Web filtering and parental control software. installed. But removing the Internet entirely would constitute extreme action, and would sadly reflect on the state of our society. - David B. Fox Studio City In the past, the primary purpose of our public libraries has been to promote the reading of a variety of books, magazines and newspapers with the ultimate goal to improve and encourage literacy, particularly among young people. When our Founding Fathers struggled to draft the Bill of Rights to guarantee our freedoms, they never could have envisioned that keyboards, mouse pads A fabric-covered rubber pad roughly 9" square that provides a smooth surface for rolling a mouse. There are also mouse pads that provide a better surface; for example, 3M makes the Precise Mousing Surface, an ultra-thin mouse pad that is engineered to reduce friction. , floppy disks and viewing screens would someday sweep across the land with such hysteria that these technically sophisticated devices would actually test the extent of our free-speech rights. The argument that the First Amendment prohibits public libraries and librarians to monitor the use of computers is false. Free speech, especially if the content is injurious in·ju·ri·ous adj. 1. Causing or tending to cause injury; harmful: eating habits that are injurious to one's health. 2. , highly offensive sexual content, always may be subject to access limitations, especially to protect minors. I believe there should be less emphasis on computers in our libraries. Their installation should never exceed floor space meant for books and other reading materials. Web site pornography has no place in any public library. - Richard Hilton Richard Howard Hilton (born August 17 1955) is an American heir of the Hilton Hotel chain, a real estate broker and developer specializing in exclusive, high-end property, Chairman of Hilton & Hyland Real Estate, and father of Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Barron Hilton, and Conrad West Los Angeles
No, I don't think libraries should impose restrictions on who can use the Internet, because people go there to use computers for resumes, and I don't think you could type a resume anywhere else if you don't have a computer or a typewriter. Libraries should put filters on those sites that feature hard-core pornography. It wouldn't be violating the rights of adults, who can view the pornography at home. The government should be responsible for what people watch on the Internet because the Internet is like a TV. On TV, you don't see people having sex. - Prince Marin Sylmar |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion