I’M Mad and I’M Not Gonna Take It Anymore!

By Bell, Mary Ann

In many cases, state standards call for online collaboration that is hindered by overly restrictive filters. Thus, schools are working in environments that keep them from achieving their own goals. This self-defeating impasse should be overcome. “I’M Eddie Chiles and I’m mad!” I used to see the bumper stickers all the time in Texas, and Wikipedia says they reached many other states as well. My life was so busy in those days that I never really bothered to wonder what he was mad about, but the phrase stuck in my mind. Now I have a bumper sticker on my file cabinet at work that says, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” The irony is that these almost identical phrases come from opposite sides of the political spectrum. Eddie, a conservative, was mad about big government; and the second phrase is a current liberal mantra.

I think it is time for some of us to co-opt both quotations and come up with something like, “I work in a school. I’m mad about filtering, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” So why do I think we should be so angry? I am mad about the ridiculous internet filtering going on today in so many schools. I believe it is past time to stop letting paranoia, combined with laziness, block teachers, counselors, administrators, and students from the internet resources they deserve to access at school.

Let’s review history a little bit:

* Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was passed in 2000.

* It’s been 4 years since Tim O’Reilly coined the phrase “Web 2.0.”

* According to Wikipedia (and who is more qualified to know?) the very first social networking sites appeared around 1996.

* I, along with many others, have been presenting and writing about Web 2.0 for more than 3 years.

Yet here it is 2008 and we still have districts that go so far as to block text containing words such as “blog,”"MySpace,”"wiki,” and other similar terms. Thus, not only can we not participate in social networking sites, which in some instances may be justified, but we cannot even read and learn about these resources. It’s time to say “Wake up!” to our masters (whoever they may be) . . . Collaborative internet sites aren’t newfangled or faddish anymore. They are part of the fabric of our students’ daily lives!

SPEAKING OUT

I am more than aware that it is not easy to speak out against the status quo when you are laboring in the trenches as a school librarian or a teacher. In some cases it is downright dangerous to one’s employment. And nobody likes a complainer anyway. You may think it is easy for Mary Ann Bell to say that people should get mad, sitting in her office as a tenured university professor. I agree that it’s a whole different matter for the working teacher with a family to feed. That is why I am going to stop being so passive and speak out more strenuously in presentations and articles, in the hope that in some small way I can help with progress.

I am not the only person who is trying to educate people in this manner. I got the idea from Nancy Willard, lawyer and educator, who writes and presents about cybersafety, cyberbullying, and internet filtering. Her words carry special weight because of her legal as well as educational background, and she inspired me recently when I met her at the Texas Library Association (TLA) conference. She spoke at a round table sponsored by the TLA Intellectual Freedom committee, along with two other very compelling speakers, Barry Bishop, Spring Branch Texas ISD library coordinator, and Carol Brey- Casiano, director of El Paso Public Library.

All three spoke out for reasonable access to the internet at both school and public libraries. One thing Nancy emphasized was that she understood the risks of “making waves” as schoolteachers and librarians, when jobs are at stake. She promised to use her position and credibility to speak out on behalf of teachers and students, in the hopes that her efforts can raise consciousness and encourage administrators to take a second look at overly restrictive parameters for internet access in schools. My goal is to lend a voice to this effort, and I hope that my writings and conference presentations can do some small bit to move things along.

MY SURVEY-TELLING A SAD STORY

To this end, I believe I have collected some information that can prove helpful to educators seeking increased internet access. In April 2008, I completed a survey that queried people to describe their situations regarding filtering and access at their K-12 schools. When I first posted the survey, I was hoping to break 100 with my number of responses. I asked for participation via LM_NET, EDTECH, TLC (Texas Library Connection), and the student/alumni group for Sam Houston State University. I also put out a request to my friends at Twitter. It seemed I struck a nerve with many people because within hours, I was nearing the 100 mark. In the next month, these early posters were joined by many more, with a total of more than 600 participants. One thing I learned was that amid the “forest” of schools with stentorian filters, one can find a few brave “trees,” or schools and districts that are allowing for more access for their students and faculties. On one hand, it gives me a bit of optimism to see gains here and there; but on the other hand it makes me angry to see how many schools are still stuck in reactionary modes, blocking out far more sites and services than CIPA ever was intended to restrict.

Just how did things stand for most people at the end of the 2007- 2008 school year? The entire survey results can be viewed at http:// tinyurl.com/3o46ay It is also linked from my presentation site at http://forwhomthe belltold.pbwiki.com.

Far too many people who responded gave disappointing answers to my questions:

* The first question simply asked if the respondent was satisfied with internet access at his/her school, to which 65.2% said no.

* When asked whether students and teachers could access blogs to read, 46% said no.

* When they were asked if students could create or participate in blogs, the negative responses rose to 58.9%.

* Interestingly, 46% said that students were allowed to use wikis, leading me to wonder why blogs were still so restricted.

* One would think that something as innocuous as social bookmarking sites would get more approval, but 49.7% said these were blocked.

* A whopping 67.9% said that some search engines were blocked, in particular image search tools.

* Email continues to be a no-no, with 58% of respondents saying it was not allowed.

TALKING POINTS

I believe that these figures do show some progress, as things were even more restrictive 2 or 3 years ago. The wall between students and Web 2.0 sites is showing more and more chinks. I think we can use this information to bolster arguments in favor of more reasonable access. One way we can sway decision makers to allow access is to point out that other districts and schools are loosening the filters and allowing exciting lessons and projects to take place. What I hope to accomplish in this and upcoming columns is to provide educators with some talking points that can help persuade superiors to open up a bit more. Some of the reasons that I will be developing include the following:

* In many cases, state standards call for online collaboration that is hindered by overly restrictive filters. Thus, schools are working in environments that keep them from achieving their own goals. This self-defeating impasse should be overcome.

* Providing access has inherent value in that it gets students excited about projects and lessons and teaches important skills. Starting with the wellknown 2002 Pew study, “The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-sawy students and their schools,” and continuing through subsequent studies, we see clearly that youngsters are frustrated and disgusted by the lack of internet access and consciousness on the part of their teachers. Many teens report that their real learning takes place at home where they can be free of filters and the lack of know-how demonstrated by their teachers.

* More and more schools are doing it! Knowing that other schools, particularly those nearby, are allowing internet access can bring out competitive desires to be a progressive and forward-thinking district or school. I believe that this angle is worth an entire column’s attention. Administrators are competitive and want their schools and students to be as innovative as campuses elsewhere. Educators can capitalize on this desire and use it to promote more reasonable filtering parameters.

* NOT allowing access can be dangerous, as it keeps us from teaching kids to be safe and smart online when they are on their own. One way to get quick attention is to tell a superior that a situation is unsafe. No one wants to be the cause of dangerous behavior. I believe that keeping professionals from accessing sites that students are using off campus can keep them from knowing about problems developing in their buildings.

* CIPA was never intended to block the kinds of sites often restricted in schools. Few people who invoke CIPA as a reason for strict filters have any idea what the act really says, or the way it was intended to be used. Providing clarification can help dispel fears of breaking the law and tamp down paranoia.

To conclude, it is time to move past fear mongering and paranoia as guides to internet access in schools. It is also time to get past laziness that causes some filtering simply because it is easier to widely block a list of words than to carefully evaluate materials. It is time to give educators the professional respect they deserve rather than let technology personnel who have not studied education make choices about access. It is time to provide teachers and administrators with the training needed to make choices that will teach youngsters to be safe and smart online. And it is time for people like me to make noise on behalf of the many who cannot afford to put their jobs on the line in these hard times! That is what I intend to do with my own writings and presentations. My next column will be about what I think is the first step in this process: staff development. Onward and upward!

REFERENCES

O’Reilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0? Available at www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web- 20.html.

Social network. (2008).Wikipedia. Available at www.wikipedia.com.

“The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools.” (2002). Available atwww.pewinternet.org.

by Mary Ann Bell

Associate Professor of Library Science

Sam Houston State University

Huntsville, Texas

Mary Ann Bell, B.A, M.L.S., Ed.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Library Science, Sam Houston State University, where she teaches classes related to tecknohgy and librarianskip. She is the author of Internet and Personal Computer Fads, Haworth Press, 2004, and Cybersins and Digital Good Deeds: A Book About Technology and Ethics, Haworth Press, 2006. She has also written for numerous journal publications and made conference presentations on the topics of information ethics and creative teaching with technology. She is active in the Texas Library Association, American Library Association, Texas Computer Education Association, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, and Delta Kappa Gamma. She can be reached by email at lis_mak@sksu.edu.

Copyright Information Today, Inc. Sep/Oct 2008

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