WHAT IS BLOCKING/ FILTERING SOFTWARE?

Blocking/filtering software is a mechanism used to restrict access to Internet content:

• based on an internal database of the product, or;
• through a database maintained external to the product itself, or;
• to certain ratings assigned to those sites by a third party, or;
• by scanning content, based on a keyword, phrase or text string or;
• based on the source of the information.

1998, there were about 40 products on the market in the United States alone. Now there are more than 80! The more popular have been CyberPatrol, CyberSitter, NetNanny, SafeSurf/LibrarySafe, and SurfWatch.

Some schools have installed a version of this software that works to block potentially harmful and offensive materials. As a network administrator it has been tempting to install such programs and defer to the judgment of outside panels. Once installed, however, all students in the school, regardless of parental and family values, will be blocked from such information. This issue has been broached by the Canadian Libraries Association (CLA) in several documents as well the Canadian School Library Association’s (CSLA) Students’ Bill of Information Rights has also come out with strong statement against the use of filtering software. In their brochure, Literacy Needs in the 21^st Century, (1998) the CSLA states that, “Information is a vital component in the development of critical thoughts and independent decision making, and, consequently, access to the ever-increasing body of available information is vital to the development of students’ potential.” They believe that students have the right to:

“Access a wide range of print, non-print and electronic learning resources at an appropriate level. Explore materials expressing a variety of opinions and perspectives; and Freely choose reading, viewing and listening materials for recreational and study purposes.”

With this in mind it becomes obvious that if a school chooses to censor and block access to information that we would be violating a student’s rights. Mackenzie (1995) adds, “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents - and only parents - have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children - and only their children - to library (including Internet) resources. Parents or legal guardians who do not want their children to have access to certain library services, materials or facilities, should so advise their children. Librarians and governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies have a public and professional obligation to provide equal access to all library resources for all library users.”