11.17.2005
We All Know What "Non-Mainstream" and "Occult" Means
Superintendent Gary Norris of the Sarasota County Public Schools in Florida recently participated in a "Religion in our Public Schools" forum hosted by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Norris didn't seem ready to field questions regarding his districts use of Internet web filters on school computers, and what they were filtering out.
"Norris was responding to a question about the district's use of Web filters, which block non-mainstream religions and occult sites. Norris said that the district's instructional technology experts were searching for ways to give "certain groups of students" access to "certain information." "Certain groups? What kind of censorship is that?" a man in the crowd of about 200 shouted. Norris was visibly taken aback. "I'm not going to participate in this forum if people are going to hurl insults," he said."
Can we just agree that when someone says "non-mainstream and occult" what they mean is Wicca and modern Paganism? Several of the popular "filters" being used by schools and other institutions block out sites with key-words like "witch", "Wicca", "Wiccan", "Pagan", "witchcraft" and "Shaman". Which means that even sites like religioustolerance.org are blocked from being accessed by students.
They only way for these filter programs to be "fair" is for them to block all religious sites (sorry no researching that paper on Jesus for you) or to allow all religious sites in. Any middle ground creates a circumstance where institutions funded in part by our taxes favor one belief system over another.
The good news is that it seems that parents aren't going to trust dodgy software or the institutions that buy them for much longer.
"Norris implored audience members shaking their heads at his responses, 'not to shoot the messenger.'"
Superintendent Gary Norris of the Sarasota County Public Schools in Florida recently participated in a "Religion in our Public Schools" forum hosted by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Norris didn't seem ready to field questions regarding his districts use of Internet web filters on school computers, and what they were filtering out.
"Norris was responding to a question about the district's use of Web filters, which block non-mainstream religions and occult sites. Norris said that the district's instructional technology experts were searching for ways to give "certain groups of students" access to "certain information." "Certain groups? What kind of censorship is that?" a man in the crowd of about 200 shouted. Norris was visibly taken aback. "I'm not going to participate in this forum if people are going to hurl insults," he said."
Can we just agree that when someone says "non-mainstream and occult" what they mean is Wicca and modern Paganism? Several of the popular "filters" being used by schools and other institutions block out sites with key-words like "witch", "Wicca", "Wiccan", "Pagan", "witchcraft" and "Shaman". Which means that even sites like religioustolerance.org are blocked from being accessed by students.
They only way for these filter programs to be "fair" is for them to block all religious sites (sorry no researching that paper on Jesus for you) or to allow all religious sites in. Any middle ground creates a circumstance where institutions funded in part by our taxes favor one belief system over another.
The good news is that it seems that parents aren't going to trust dodgy software or the institutions that buy them for much longer.
"Norris implored audience members shaking their heads at his responses, 'not to shoot the messenger.'"
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