What you can do to fight Censorship!
Presented by Natalie Avallone, Theresa Adams, and Lisa Venker
for ISTC 615 on December 2, 2008
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
(article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948)
Definitions and Terms Related to Censorship and/or Filtering
The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s home page has a wonderful matrix which defines many of the terms used regarding censorship and web filtering – including a brief description of CIPA, the Child Internet Protection Act.
http://www.teaching.state.pa.us/ed_tech/cwp/view.asp?a=169&q=87755
Online Resources regarding Censorship:
American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is the wing of the ALA which supports anti-censorship and freedom of information. It also sponsors Banned Books Week.
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/index.cfm
ALA has also supported the charter of the Freedom to Read Foundation, which provides grant money for anti-censorship campaigns and supports litigation on that issue.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/othergroups/freedomtoreadfoundation/index.cfm
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has and continues to challenge the constitutionality of federal laws that limit freedom of speech and information in conjunction with the ALA. It was through their efforts that COPA (The Child Online Protection Act) was overruled in 2002. A combined effort with the ALA to challenge CIPA in 2003, though not as successful, has also made the law much more limited in its scope.
Suggestions for libraries conforming to CIPA requirements: http://www.aclu.org/privacy/speech/14938res20030801.html
Home page: http://www.aclu.org/index.html
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Anti-Censorship Resource Center includes links, materials, and support when addressing issues of censorship in the classroom.
http://wwwdev.ncte.org/action/anti-censorship
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee reports on recent threats to our freedom speech and suggests methods for activism.
http://www.bordc.org/index.php
Families Against Internet Censorship is an organization of active parents who are united together in their belief that parents are those most suited to determine what kids see or don’t see on the Internet.
http://www.netfamilies.org/index.html
Kidspeak is a website organization initially created for kids in response to censorship attacks toward the Harry Potter series. It continues to register student members, educate, and mobilize students to protect their right to read and express themselves.
http://www.kidspeakonline.org/index.html
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) was formed in 1974 as an alliance of non-profit organizations and civil liberties groups dedicated to protecting the first amendment. It publishes the Censorship News quarterly as well as supporting related organizations.
http://www.ncac.org/home.cfm
Judy Blume’s website has a wonderful section on censorship with resources and ideas for how to address it.
http://judyblume.com/censorship.php
A nice historical timeline of censorship through history from Humanities – Interactive a website sponsored by the Texas Council for the Humanities.
http://www.humanities-interactive.org/literature/bonfire/index.html?collectionVar=LiteratureStop&pageVar=1
For additional organizations and ideas see the American Library Association’s coalition list.
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=basicrelatedlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11699
BCPS Censorship Policy
Citizens who wish to challenge a work can submit the following form to the Office of Library Services and it is reviewed by an ad hoc committee. The only work pulled from shelves in recent years was Foggie Went a'Courtin by Kevin O'Malley.
http://www.bcps.org/system/policies_rules/FORMS_EXHIBITS/6000Series/FORM6002A.pdf
Source: Curtis, Della. “RE: Censorship.” 13 November 2008. Personal Email to Lisa Venker. 14 November 2008.
BCPS Web Filtering Policy
According to the Office of Technology, Baltimore County’s application of filtering software is determined by location and whether or not there may be possible access by children. More specific settings are currently being worked on to allow more flexibility in professional use. For example, it is currently possible for administrators and SRO’s to access social networking sites in order to address discipline issues or abuse by students.
The following link lists the categories of sites currently blocked by our Websense filter and the justification for each. https://intranet.bcps.org/offices/dot/webfilter/faq.html
These categories are explained in more detail on the Websense website which can also be purchased for home use. It is notable that many of the potential categories are not applied by BCPS but may be applied by a different user.
http://www.websense.com/global/en/ProductsServices/MasterDatabase/URLCategories.php
In addition, the Web Filter Staff () monitor access daily and make modifications as issues arise, blocking new sites that may pose a threat to the BCPS system’s security, children’s safety, or user abuse. Concerns or questions about BCPS policy can be addressed to the group email box.
Source: Phelan, David. “RE: Information Request.” 13 November 2008. Personal Email to Natalie Avallone. 14 November 2008.
Helpful Links:
The following are considered anti-filtering websites, which are currently blocked from our BCPS server because they provide information that can be used to circumvent our filters.
Censorware.net
sethf.com/anticensorware/
Zamzar.com
www.peacefire.org
Helpful Texts on Censorship (Most are available from Cook Library.)
Atlas, J. (1992). Battle of the books: the curriculum debate in America. New York: Norton.
Burress, L. (1989). Battle of the books: literary censorship in public schools, 1950-1985. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
Scales, P. (2001). Teaching banned books: 12 guides for young readers. Chicago: American Library Association.
Edwards, J. (1998). Opposing censorship in the public schools: religion, morality and literature. Mahwah, NJ: NetLibrary Inc. (Available through Cook Library)
Hull, M. (1999). Censorship in America: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Simmons, J. (2001). School censorship in the 21st century: a guide for teachers and school library media specialists. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Power, B., Wilhelm, J., Chandler, K. (1997). Reading Stephen King: issues of censorship, student choice, and popular literature. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Symons, A. (1995). Protecting the right to read: a how-to-do-it manual for school and public librarians. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Information cited in Censorship PowerPoint:
“Bonfire of the Liberties.” Retrieved November 30, 2008 from The Humanities Interactive. http://www.humanities-interactive.org/literature/bonfire/index.html?collectionVar=LiteratureStop&pageVar=1 “Frequently Challenged Books.”. Retrieved November 24, 2008 from American Library Association. 2007 http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/frequentlychallengedbooks.cfm
Information Cited in Pamphlet:
Aronson, M. (2008, May). Star power: what’s the role of nonfiction in our celebrity-obsessed culture?. School Library Journal: 5, 35. Retrieved October 14, 008, from ERIC
database.
Hallquist, R. (2008, May). Tough talk: conservations with students, teachers, parents, and administrators about censorship and free expression in high school. Art Education: 32, 42-47. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from ERIC database.
Kauer, S. M. (2008, January). A battle reconsidered: second thoughts on book censorship and conservative parents. English Journal: 9, 56-60. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from ERIC database.
Petress, K. (2008, Feb). The role of censorship in schools. Journal of Instructional Psychology 32(3), 248-252. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from ERIC database.
Information Cited in Filtering PowerPoint:
Villano, M. (2008). What are we protecting them from? [Electronic version]. THE Journal, 35, 48-54.
Willard, N. (2008). Digital identification and the false hope for the protection of youth. Retrieved December 01, 2008 from Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use: http://www.csriu.org.
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