Governmend Funded Outlets to Porn

The author of this article, Rhonda Callow, lays out the arguments FOR anti-porn filters in schools and libraries. And as she says so eloquently, "...there must be some benefits to having pornography filters on the computers of our schools and libraries, otherwise, aren’t these just government funded outlets to porn?"

I'll break down her most beautiful arguments here:

1. It protects our children from (intentionally or unintentionally) seeing inappropriate content.
2. No matter how much of a parenting super power you might be, "If people are permitted to openly view pornography in our libraries, we might as well send our kids to the local brothel to do their homework and research projects".
3. "If we permit people to download and watch pornography from public libraries, how long until the inappropriate label is stripped away and “sick” becomes “standard”?
4. "Sure, you could move the library computers so that only the computer user can see the screen, but do you really want some man (or woman) looking at porn while your child is but ten feet away studying for his next history exam?"
5. As the counterargument with forcing the cost of filters on libraries and schools, "I’m somewhat concerned with the costs associated with having technicians come in to do regular clean-ups and maintenance on the computers which have been infected with malicious programs, such as spyware and viruses; something most of us know is a likely probability when porn sites are visited and the content downloaded. Avoiding the initial costs of installing these filters could possibly be considered a “budget band-aid” and not a practical, cost-effective long-term solution."
6. "Internet filters are advanced enough now that even if they do block a breast cancer website, in all likelihood, the person doing the search will be able to access various other websites on the topic just fine."

For the complete article, follow this link: http://www.sync-blog.com/sync/2009/09/pornography-in-our-schools-and-libraries.html