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Study: internet filters bring problems. (Update: education news from schools, business, research and professional organizations).


Educators and parents who think filters will protect "little Suzie" from accidentally accessing pornography when searching for information on kitties should think again.

Internet filters See Web filtering and firewall.  allowed access to pornography more than one in three times, 38 percent, in accidental access simulations, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 a recent Internet filter study.

In December, the Kaiser Family Foundation The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), or just Kaiser Family Foundation, is a U.S.-based non-profit, private operating foundation headquartered in Menlo Park, California.  issued a study, See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Information. Kaiser researchers studied youth access to health information with filtering software. And researchers studied six leading filtering products in U.S. public schools: SmartFilter, 8e6, Websense, CyberPatrol, Symantec, N2H2 and AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services.  Parental Controls This article is about computer options. For the television show, see Parental Control (TV series).

Parental controls are options, typically included in digital television services, computer and video games, or computer software used to access the Internet, that
.

They assessed the ability to access sites containing health information across a range of topics, including health unrelated to sex, health related to sexual body parts, and sites with potentially controversial health information.

The six filters in schools were set at: least restrictive--blocking only pornography-related categories; intermediate restrictive--blocking categories that are most likely considered inappropriate; and most restrictive--blocking all categories conceivable con·ceive  
v. con·ceived, con·ceiv·ing, con·ceives

v.tr.
1. To become pregnant with (offspring).

2.
 in a library or school. Most schools have systems at or above the intermediate level.

Kaiser researchers also tested the systems' ability to block access to pornography when someone was intentionally looking for Looking for

In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with.
 it.

Under conditions simulating intentional access, one in 10 sites containing pornography were accessible. If schools do not have effective supervision or engage in regular review of blocked URL URL
 in full Uniform Resource Locator

Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program.
 reports, intentional attempted access would go undetected. This means U.S. public schools are spending billions of dollars for about two minutes of protection, says Nancy Willard Nancy Willard (born June 26, 1936, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a children's author and poet. In 1982, she received the Newbery Medal for A Visit to William Blake's Inn. She lives in Poughkeepsie, New York and lectures at Vassar College.[1]. , the director of Responsible Netizen at the University of Oregon's Center for Advanced Technology.

Researchers found that filters set at the least restrictive level blocked only 1.4 percent of health information sites and blocked 5 percent of sites at the intermediate level. However, at the most restrictive level, filters blocked 24 percent of these "good" sites.

A closer analysis of the data reveals blocking patterns that present even significantly greater concerns, Willard adds. In categories where the subject is controversial or the sites themselves may contain controversial information, such as safe sex and homosexuality, the rate of overblocking was significantly higher. At the intermediate restriction configuration, filters blocked one in four of those health information sites.

In the end, the Kaiser study reveals why it is unwise and inappropriate to rely on filtering software to protect young people when they use the Internet, Willard says.
BLOCKED: Health sites blocked by filters
at the most restrictive setting

Breast Cancer        7%

Depression           11

Diabetic diet        14

Herpes               23

Pregnancy            32

Birth Control        35

Abortion             45

Safe Sex             50

Condoms              55

Gay health sites     60

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Note: Table made from bar graph.
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Copyright 2003, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:District Administration
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Feb 1, 2003
Words:445
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