School officials in Prince William County were blindsided on Monday with a letter from the ACLU threatening a lawsuit over Internet filters on gay and lesbian sites. According to the Gainesville Times:
The letter, signed by Rebecca Glenberg and Joshua Block of the ACLU of Virginia, states that the school system is blocking gay support group sites in violation of students’ First Amendment rights.
The issue is filtering software that blocks access to, among other sites, the Gay Student Alliance Network, Day of Silence and It Gets Better.
“The Prince William County Public Schools do not have a legitimate pedagogical basis for censoring students’ access to these websites, which provide support and resources for LGBT students and gay-straight alliances,” states the letter.
PWC Spokesman Ken Blackstone had the following to say on the subject, in the same article:
“The ACLU is making some claims and we’re reviewing them to see if they’re accurate and to see how we can respond to that,” he said. “They bring up important points.”
Blackstone said the school system is required by federal law to use Internet filtering software to keep students and staffers from looking at inappropriate content at school.
The school software, Blue Coat Filtering, filters 32 different categories. It doesn’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate. Generally, if students or staff believe something is being filtered that is acceptable for use, there is a process by which the site can be reviewed and unlocked. Mr. Blackstone said that no such request, to his knowledge, has been submitted for review of the sites for student appropriateness.
On the other hand, who really owns the power to determine what is appropriate or inappropriate? Should PWC Schools not have that final determination? Kids today find enough ways to skirt around filters and get to content that isn’t acceptable. The school has a legal, and to some folks , a moral responsibility to protect the children in its charge from pornography and other inappropriate content.
There are ways around the school filters. Many students have Ipads and smart phones that use 3g and are not reliant on school equipment. Special permission could be granted to use such equipment for after school activities. The sponsor of any clubs that needed to access information could request the internet filter be removed for a particular site. That is standard procedure that has been in place for years.
On the other hand, this ACLU challenge has the potential of opening Pandora’s box. Hopefully PWC will handle the problem so that they are not plagued with challenges over other types of materials every time someone turns around. Until software is able to make human decisions, we will be stuck with this kind of situation. It seems to me that the student or teacher should have applied to have the websites they needed to access unlocked rather than bringing in the ACLU. There is an expression about getting out a cannon to kill a fly. Why threaten when a request works just as well.
Finally, I am not sure this is really a first amendment issue. When we start unlocking S & M and bondage support sites and stocking the library with Playboy then perhaps there is a beef. I am not sure there is a ‘right’ to the internet.
Update:
ACLU Point of View:
Read more at the Washingtonpost.com
the aclu is to be commended for once again looking out for the rights of ALL americans, including in this instance the rights of the lgbt community, the same community that faces discrimination and harrassment every day in this bigoted, prejudiced society we live in. furthermore, by denying our children access to s & m and bondage support sites, we are displaying the same prejudiced narrowmindedness practiced by our society as a whole
I hope our school system stands up to these ACLU bullies. No access to any sort of sexually oriented web site, whether for pornography or advocacy on behalf of some special interest group, should be allowed in our schools. Regarding iPads, smart phones, etc. parents are responsible for ensuring their children use them appropriately.
There is a third side of this argument that I did not realize. There are anti gay avocacy groups that can be accessed, in all probability.
I don’t think there are easy answers. If I were king, I would check out the advocacy sites. If they were ok, I would unlock them and hope that was the end of it.
The video makes a very good point. If it is permissable to have a ‘You can Change’ website available, then there really has to be a site that validates the gay and lesbian kids’ identity.
Gay teens have one of the highest suicide rates in America.
Today we seem to be covering what some folks would say are first amendment topics.
This seems like a good time to bring up another issue:
I would like to salute Bull Run Unitarian Church for their efforts to support gay and lesbian youth. While I am sure other churches also do outreach, BRUU has been a leader in providing acceptance for these kids with iniatives like their prom night.
So, I wonder if the filtering agent blocks NRA and other pro-gun sites. Maybe the ACLU will sue to let students learn about the 2nd amendment……nah…
I hope the ACLU gets slapped down. If the students need access to those sites, they can do it from home.
They have and they’ve taken their fair of sh!t over it too. I thought Christians loved their neighbors. 🙄
Only by Christian Charlatans. @Lafayette
Moon has a really good point. If you open access up to the pro-gay websites then you have to open up access to the con. I’m sure the ACLU also wants access to Westboro’s websites and forums opened so that students can gain the full spectrum on this issue and not just the “pro-” sites.
Cargo, I like that question.. Is the NRA filtered? How about SAF? Opencarry.org (especially as some students may be 18 and can legally carry a firearm openly outside of school)?
Seems to me that the ACLU pushing this issue may actually hurt students. I can already picture in my mind some kid going to the school library and putting the Westboro webpage up on 20 computers at a time as a “joke”.
There is a legitimate reason for young gay people to have access to websites that they will find helpful. Although I am not sure about the fear of the unintended consequences, I do know that there has been a rash of suicides by young gay teens and that is unacceptable. If school groups are being formed to build connections and support, I do not see why this issue cannot be worked out and I am hopeful the school will figure out a fair conclusion.
I really don’t see the correlation between support groups for gay teens and a need to visit an open carry website. I don’t recall any news recently about a young teen killing him/herself because they did not know they could or could not open carry a weapon.
NTK,
Certainly you cannot equate gay youth support to porn sites.
@Elena
It was a correlation based on suits by the ACLU based on 1st Amendment rights. If they are able to go to such sites because of 1st Amendment rights, then what sites are verboten?
Thank God the ACLU is fighting for our children’s right to cruise on by meatswing.com to see what’s going on!
Sorry, meant meatspin, not meatswing….the ACLU will probably sue me for that mistake!
what I want to know is why do you know that website?!
@Cargo,
the high rate of suicide of gay teens is very serious, and if they can form groups, and help support one another, and part of that support are well known credible web sites, these kids should have access, its really that simple to me.
Maybe the schools should only give access to 10 or so research sites including the PWC online library.
Kids can surf outside of school. Why do they need access to so many sites? Or am I being ignorant?
If Mark Twain is banned…….
I wonder if there is a government sponsored program in the schools to encourage kids to speak with their parents. Guidance appears to be social services and from what I hear they won’t tell parents things….. Maybe if enough time was spent encouraging including parents and and the schools behaved as if the kids did have parents it would be different.
since when do parents come into the equation?
It’s as outrageous as when the bullies at the ACLU went after radio station KCSB on First Amendment grounds back in 1989. The station cancelled a show and fired the host for making homophobic remarks and the ACLU stepped up in defense of the fired host … Sean Hannity.
For starters, schools (and the military) are a place where there are not full first amendment rights. Most students aren’t 18. Secondly, you would have no discipline whatsoever. This fact has been upheld time and time again in the courts.
Additionally, student newpapers and the internet equipment (Sorry, I am not Al Gore) are owned by the school system and therefore subject to its rules.
I suggest the students follow procedure and ask to have a website unlocked. I would probably tell the ACLU to go….well you know. You can’t cave to something that has so many unintended consequences. If 2-4 sites aren’t enough, visit them from home on your own time.
@Moon-howler
Well Said!
@Elena
It’s an old Web Joke. There were several fake URLs that looked legitimate but would redirect you to meatspin.com. People used to play that “joke” on each other quite a bit. DC101 used to use it as a joke as well.
My head hurts. I agree with MH.