Techie Homeschoolers

Homeschoolers:  Did you know that the majority of public and private schools are just as concerned about students’ potential harmful viewing online as we are?

Here’s proof: there was a study done on internet blocking in schools.  Essentially, there are laws in regulation that block harmful viewing…but there is a catch.  Here’s a quote directly from the source:

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires all schools and libraries receiving certain federal funds or discounts to install and use a technology for blocking visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or in the case of minors, “harmful to minors.”

Here’s the catch to why much of the internet filters haven’t been working in schools:

The report drew the following conclusions:

• The use of Internet blocking software in schools cannot help schools comply with the law because schools do not and cannot set the software to block only the categories required by the law, and because the software is incapable of blocking only the visual depictions required by CIPA.
• Blocking software does not protect children from exposure to a large volume of material that is harmful to minors within the legal definitions. Blocking software cannot adapt adequately to local community standards. Most schools already have in place alternatives to Internet blocking software, such as adoption and enforcement of Internet use policies, media literacy education, directed use, and supervised use.
• Blocking software in schools damages educational opportunities for students, both by blocking access to web pages that are directly related to the state-mandated curriculums and by restricting broader inquiries of both students and teachers. Teachers and students 17 years or older (most high school juniors and seniors) should be exempt, yet suffer the consequences of CIPA implementation.

After testing nearly a million web pages related to state-mandated curriculums, the researchers found that of the web pages blocked, 97 – 99% of a statistically significant sample were blocked using non-standard, discretionary, and potentially illegal criteria beyond what CIPA requires.

Which, in my opinion, simply means that in homeschools, parent teachers will need to be actively involved in overseeing online and computer usage by our students.  We will need to understand all of the ramifications of our kids’ computer usage and become educated about how to help them learn online, WITHOUT stifling their opportunities to learn.

The only way to effectively do both (keep our kids safe online, AND teach them to independently use technology resources) is to educate ourselves about the digital world.  Truth be told, many of us are just not willing to do that.  (I’ve talked to many parents who shy away from the idea altogether due to fear of the unknown).  However, I’d like to encourage all home educating parents to do this with me:  let’s take the time to learn a bit about online environments, specifically:

• internet safety and tools
• internet research for education
• online educational curricula and software

There are TONS of good resources out there- as indicated in the book “Homeschool Your Child For Free“.  We just have to be open enough to give our children access to these materials.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t LIMIT access to some degree (and that limitation is up to each parent teacher).  But complete limitation probably isn’t a good idea either.

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Techie Homeschooler wrote 34 articles on this blog.

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Tags: education technology block content, internet content blocking, internet filter in schools, internet filtering

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