Schools Censor Internet Access

(Cleveland, Ohio) Under the federal Children's Internet Protection Act, the Cleveland school system receives federal funds to provide Internet access to schools with the stipulation that they shield students from "objectionable material."

Since what is objectionable material to one person is oysters on the half shell to another, it's understandable that the authorities are instituting a contentious program of censorship that lacks uniformity. According to Peter Robertson, the district's chief of informational research,

"This is not a perfect science, . . . It's a juggling act."

Local schools use a variety of commercial filtering programs which officials admit are at best arbitrary. Myra Stone, library and media specialist at James Ford Rhodes High School, believes that the current censorship policies allow people to impose their own moral code.

Any censorship is subjective and, therefore, common agreement within the Cleveland school system is unlikely. Expect an ongoing controversy.