Re: [OS:N:] Re:School Filtering

[jkinz rcn com]

On Wed, Sep 25, 2002 at 01:11:42PM -0700, ekunin wrote:
> I'm surprised the consensus seems to be that school filtering is both
> desirable and necessary. I say it is simply wrong. Censorship is
> hierarchical, a power trip in which one person imposes upon another. What do
> we get from school filtering? All students will be virgins on their wedding
> day? None of them will know anything about sex? They'll learn there are
> sleazy characters out there? That seems a lesson worth learning, more
> practical than anything purveyed in English Lit.
> 
> Ed Kunin
> http://www.egalite.com

As always, kids will learn about sex no matter what we do.  Fine.
I'll have frank, direct talks to mine about the subject.  What they
do about it will be up to them, just like all other kids have done.

In the meantime I think the fact that schools are filtering, (even though
bright kids can get around it easily), sends a message to the kids that
some things are not appropriate for certain age groups and that school 
time and school tools are for learning about school things.

This is a good message.  Kids have free will as soon as they are born.
Good parenting means doing all we can to help them make smart choices.

Filtering is one way we can demonstrate what we think is good and
bad to them.  They will spend most of their life with no limits so
they need to be prepared to create their own boundaries before they
reach that point.

I'm much more worried about my kids getting involved with un-realistic
extremists than I am sleazy characters.

Kids learn quick and sleazo's are usually readily apparent while 
extremists can be disguised as anything.

-- 
Jeff Kinz, Director, Emergent Research,  Hudson, MA.  "jkinz ultranet com" 
"jkinz rcn com" copyright 2002.  Use is restricted. Any use is an 
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