More than just a pretty face....

and other observations on school libraries and teacher-librarianship

School Libraries in Canada, v.20(2) 2000 pg 28

Push and Pull

A few years ago my wife and I visited France.  We found ourselves at several "classic" tourist sites.  While we were not with little children, we were everywhere amazed (and appalled) by the limited or absent safety considerations that we have come to expect in Canada.  It was great to walk across the top of the Pont d’Neuf.  It was almost terrifying to realize that there were no guide rails across its width, no warnings about the incredible drop to rocks below.  And children ran everywhere. If the Romans could build it, surely you can cross it on your own.  The responsibility was ours and there was no need to warn anyone about the obvious perils.  That was a cost of freedom.

With our fixation on safety and legality it is obvious that we would come to see the myriad dangers represented by the freedom of the Web.  We have all come to see its incredible power to move data.  We have all come to recognize its power to do good...to provide us with instant useful information and data and allow us to "shrink" the world as we communicate with others.  But just like Red Riding Hood we have also found the Wolf!  We have built the bridge and now we are afraid that some will fall off unless we put up some guidelines.  But its very design and construct makes us loath to interfere with its freedom to move all that data.  We must try to find ways to put up the safety rails without impeding those who will act responsibly with all this freedom.

We have seen the proliferation of the Net Nannies, and Family Filters and other blocking devices against pornography.  We all know that it may protect the truly innocent, but those who are not so pure will be able to find the forbidden parts.  Most schools have come to realize the need to protect their backs as much as their students and have created extensive "parental permission" approaches to move the responsibility for inappropriate web access from school to student and to parent.  It all seems to be a curious response to engaging the web as a wondrous tool for learning.  Students must be very confused by the messages this approach brings. " I have to engage the Web in my school work, but because I might choose to use the Web for other purposes - my parents have to sign a paper saying that I will not look at bad pages on the Web!"  Give me a break!

I fully appreciate that the school has a responsibility to protect children.  I too can see real dangers in the Web.  But the issue cannot be just prohibition or parental control "in absentia".  It is clear to me that the school will have to engage Web Awareness as part of its "literacy" program.  We are asking our kids to learn about all kinds of discriminations: best words, proper spelling, appropriate clothing, correct responses, appropriate behavior, sportsmanship, courtesy, and good posture!  Surely we have a responsibility to find ways to keep them safe from dangers in the marketplace, back alleys, and many areas in the Web.  Programs have been developed (such as the workshops for teachers developed by the Media Awareness Network) that should make it possible for the school to be able to advise parents that their children have engaged a program on the dangers of the Web and that they must reinforce these cautionary tales..  

There is a grim reality operating here.  Kids whose parents are concerned about where they are will be most likely to engage the Web as a family centred experience.  They will take an interest in the pages and links their children use and the communications they engage.  But many parents will be unable to use the Web with the same facility as their kids and may find the complexities exhausting.  They need support and guidance especially if they have acquired all the equipment and consider the Web to be important.  Then we have parents who, for whatever reasons, are not concerned, or who fail to realize that they must be concerned.  It is crucial that they be brought into the picture.

Many schools will soon receive copies of a program called "Missing" produced by a Vancouver media company with the support of several government and not-for -profit agencies. It is an example of the marketplace responding to what might be perceived as a need.  The issue is "abduction" using the Web as a communication tool to lure unsuspecting kids into leaving home.  The whole concept frightens everyone.  This program may be an important tool for the school and home to make the issue real, but it may also be a shortcut to reaction by some kids.  The best program will be peer discussion orchestrated by the school so that everyone engages the concerns and guidelines.  We do not attempt to teach water safety through a single program at home, pool or school.  Water safety is continually stressed whenever the ingredients are mixed.  I believe that the same message must be stressed for questions about the Web.

The image in the cartoon above is compelling and revolting at the same time. People are being pulled into the Web while outside forces are pushing them into its wonders.  We are - the whole educational establishment- is part of those forces.  We have to come to grips with this power and this responsibility.  Web Awareness must become part of the vocabulary of teachers and teacher-librarians as they help kids and their parents learn to find the best stuff in the Web- ideas, images and information that can be trusted and considered without fear and suspicion.  


Donald Hamilton