Hmmmm. You make a number of points, some of which I think have merit, but others which, er, have less merit. Without wanting to devolve into a shoving match, I respectfully disagree, as follows:

(1) Comparing assaults from social networking sites with assualts in local malls seems to ignore the fact that school libraries are not public spaces. If some child predator wanted to go hang out in an elementary school library, he'd find himself talking to security personnel pretty quickly, which I think is a good thing. Why not protect kids when they are at school? They can always go to the mall on their own time.

(2) While I have enjoyed social networking sites myself, especially on a professional level, I don't think they have a lot of educational benefit, at least for some strict values of 'educational'. Are kids at school to learn, or to play?

(3) In the United States, the government has 'veto' authority even over parents, in terms of ensuring a child's safety and well-being. As much as I would resent government interference in my own parenting, having seen some of the poor excuses for parents, I must admit that governmental oversight is necessary in some cases.

(4) As you say, taxpayers pay the piper. I pay property tax on two homes in two school districts, which comes to a pretty penny. But if you look at the original article, it stated that "The House passed the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) by 410 votes to 15." I'm not sure how the Colorado representatives voted, but I'm guessing that you (as a voter in CO), have spoken on this issue, since your elected representative has weighed in on this matter(however they voted). As jhourcle pointed out, we do (at least in this country) have redress if we don't like a law.

In reply to Re^3: Proposed US ban on school/library access to 'social networking sites' by ptum
in thread Proposed US ban on school/library access to 'social networking sites' by g0n

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