On Feb. 28, Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, gave a speech at Hamilton College regarding online censorship and first amendment rights. This is our own debate on the topic.

kasey (7:09:17 PM): I think trying to censor the Internet is keeping people from seeing valuable information

dawn (7:09:46 PM): it's also keeping children from seeing pornography

kasey (7:10:53 PM): Yeah, but if a teenage kid is struggling with his or her sexuality, he won't be able to access websites that could help him

kasey (7:11:19 PM): Under the Child Online Protection Act, lesbian and gay informative Web-sites will be blocked, no matter who the viewer is

dawn (7:13:40 PM): If a child is looking for that information, they should be asking their parents or another adult that they trust about it, not searching online where the information they find could end up being inappropriate

dawn (7:14:11 PM): while they could find Web-sites that are informative, mixed in will always be pornography

kasey (7:15:19 PM): But if a parent is open-minded and willing enough to listen to sexuality questions, then shouldn't they be willing to also help their child sort through what is appropriate and what isn't?

dawn (7:18:20 PM): and what about when a parent doesn't even know what Web-sites are pornography and what ones are educational? sometimes it's hard to tell, and there are so many Web-sites mixed together in a search, its impossible to weed out the websites that aren't teaching.

kasey (7:19:58 PM): That's true, but if a parent takes the time to sit down with their child at the computer, even though it might be difficult or uncomfortable for the parent, they can explain to the child what is going to be valuable and what isn't

dawn (7:21:44 PM): the fact is that parents do not always have the time or the knowledge to help their children search productively online

kasey (7:23:13 PM): Yeah, but does that make the government responsible for what kids see?

dawn (7:28:16 PM): as far as censorship goes, yes. there are some things in the world that children should be shielded from. there are laws to make sure we are physically safe, there should be a law to make sure children are mentally safe from this garbage.

kasey (7:34:00 PM): In her speech, Nadine Strossen said that there hasn't been a definite consensus that children are harmed by sexual images or content, and that usually it's more traumatic for the parents

dawn (7:36:13 PM): seeing pornography online while searching for educational material "harms" a child more than a government-controlled censorship system that stops them from seeing it altogether

kasey (7:40:40 PM): But government-controlled censorship would also keep adult people out of sites that they have every right seeing. Planned Parenthood and Sexual Health Network are both valuable resources for adults, but under COPA they would be shut down

dawn (7:51:59 PM): I disagree with COPA's broad interpretation of what is "harmful." I think that the government should instead offer a more defined view of what should be censored.

kasey (7:52:59 PM): But that's the entire problem with censorship: every member of the government may have a different opinion about what should be censored. One person might want Planned Parenthood to be censored and another might think that is wrong.

dawn (7:54:11 PM): I think there should be a committee specifically for censorship