Celebrate Banned Websites Awareness Day on the Wednesday of Banned Books Week
Banned Websites Awareness Day
Every year in September we celebrate Banned Books Week, usually during the last week of the month. On the Wednesday of that week we also celebrate Banned Websites Awareness Day.
We have been celebrating Banned Books Week since 1982. Of course, websites are much newer than books. But they’re no less susceptible to being banned. Schools accomplish this by using filters that block access to certain websites.
So in 2011 the American Library Association started Banned Websites Awareness Day. The day’s goal is to raise awareness of how censorship impacts intellectual freedom.
Why Websites Are Banned
In large part schools block access to many websites to protect their students. This does make sense up to a point. Schools are supposed to be safe places for children. Some websites are anything but safe.
Schools are worried about things like
- Security
- Online predators
- Privacy
- Cyberbullying
Not to mention potential lawsuits if children are exposed to or harmed by the seedier side of the ‘net at school
They’re also trying to follow the Children’s Internet Protection Act, passed in 2000. This act requires schools and libraries to, among other things, block access by minors to content that may be harmful to them, including obscene material and child pornography. They also need an internet safety policy to deal with things like hacking and keeping electronic communication channels safe for minors.
Schools also block websites that aren’t necessarily harmful, but which can be distracting. This includes social networking and games sites.
Why Banning Websites Is Not the (Whole) Answer
Ok, there are legitimate reasons to block some (some!) websites in schools. Students have no reason to be using pornography or gambling sites, for example.
And even adults sometimes have to resort to blocking their own access to social media and other entertainment sites in order to get anything done.
But …
Most sites don’t need to be completely blocked
In fact, allowing students to access questionable sites can help them learn how to filter and evaluate information and websites on their own. Recognizing legitimate sites vs. misleading, questionable or just plain useless sites is an important skill that will only become more important.
And while social media can be distracting, it can also provide additional learning platforms. Helping kids learn to limit their own time spent could be more useful than simply blocking the sites.
And …
No filter is perfect
So relying solely on filters to keep kids safe is naive at best. They’ll miss some porn sites, for example, while blocking perfectly legitimate sites.
Check out this article by Stephen Abram, explaining why sites with words like “specialist” or “affairs” get blocked, no matter what their actual content. Oh, and apparently any site in a county called Middlesex.
(I still remember having an early email address with a site called hotbot.com. I couldn’t register with a number of sites using that email address, because they insisted it was pornographic … Apparently “hotbot” was too close to “hot bod”? At least, I assumed that was the problem …)
And anyway …
Kids are much more at ease with technology than adults
That should eventually change, but for now there’s still a lot of us old fogies who grew up before the internet.
So at some schools the kids are finding workarounds for accessing blocked sites even on school-issued devices. Meanwhile teachers are frustrated that they can’t share an educational YouTube video with their classes because the site is blocked.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficial educational holiday.
How to Celebrate Banned Websites Awareness Day
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) asks school librarians and other educators to take part in this day by promoting awareness of how overly tight filter controls can have a negative effect on learning.
Even if you’re not an educator or librarian, you can take part. Parents can talk with their children’s schools to find out what, if any, sites it filters. Nearly all US schools do filter at least some online content (98% in 2012, according to an AASL survey). So your child’s likely does too.
Investigate the sites blocked. Ask your children if they’ve been unable to access sites they legitimately needed to do assignments. Share some of the resources we link to here with the school and suggest it revisit its filtering policies.
Talk with your child’s school librarian, too. Find out if he or she is participating in the day. Some choose not to because they’re afraid of getting in trouble with school administrators or the school district.
Learn more about banned websites and their impact on children’s learning with these resources from the AASL.
Will you be celebrating Banned Websites Awareness Day this year?
[…] Banned Websites Awareness Day: This day highlights how schools and libraries often go too far in blocking access to certain websites. Yes, there are legitimate reasons to block some sites. But often useful and educational sites get caught up in the filters. […]