Yes, I do recognize that this is a bit idealistic, but I also have taught at the elementary and secondary level (i.e., not a total outside observer), and I think *I* would get bored as a teacher if I *didn’t* give them a bit of freedom in this regard.

In any case, I am less concerned over individual schools putting up blocks on their system. I mean it kind of sucks that you can’t read my blog from many schools–I’m blacklisted on some filters–but if an individual school wants to set dumb policy, so be it. I just don’t like that the more progressive schools that want to experiment with things like social networking would be blocked from doing so.

Oh, and your suggestion is that chatting and playing with their MySpace page is somehow different from learning? It can be, to be sure, but it certainly doesn’t have to be.

Erm… no. They want students in school to spend their time learning, rather than goofing off chatting or playing with their myspace page.

Breaking News:

Legislation introduced this week will ban social networking, even sites used for educational and professional opportunities. What’s next? HR5319 will censor the communication of our generation and tell us who we can talk to, when and how. Tell Congress that social networking is a movement that we built, a movement that we are going to fight for.

Visit http://www.mobilize.org/SOS, take action, tell your friends and get mad.

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The bill blocks the use of these sites in public libraries, which is for many, the only access that they have to a computer. Our hope is to be able to amend the bill to take these facts into consideration. We agree that there need to be safeguards put in place for “sexual predators” and any of other crimes that might occur because of the accessibility of information on these sites, but to ban them in schools (including using school computers afterschool) and public libraries, is for many – banning social networking.