On guard against internet porn

The Constitution was written on parchment with quills and ink, but its protection of free speech still applies to the internet and cyberspace, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.
That means that parents will have to be more attentive when junior sits down at the IBM keyboard and clicks onto the World Wide Web.
The Court's recent unanimous decision in Reno vs. ACLU determined that speech is protected by the First Amendment even when that speech is sent through computers rather than spoken over the radio, broadcast on television or shown on a movie screen.
Help for parents
I agree with the Court's decision in this particular case, but I also sympathize with those parents who want some help in making sure that pornography doesn't seep through their Macs into their children's psyches. The internet is loaded with the same smut one can find in many local bookstores, on grocery store magazine racks and along service station shelves. With the click of a mouse, still photos, text and even moving images of a sexually explicit nature can be logged onto by anyone old enough to punch "enter" on the keyboard.
Congress attempted to do something about that situation by passing the 1996 Communication Decency Act, which placed the burden on the purveyors of such material to set up technical and other guards to keep children out of their web sites. But the Court struck down the act on the grounds that it was vague and curbed free speech.
Steps to start
So what can moms and dads do to keep their children from wandering into chat rooms discussing bestiality or sites featuring images of sexual activity? There are several effective steps they can take:
1. Educate your child on the standards you apply to the use of the computer in your home. If you already do that for other media, such as the TV and music, then it won't be difficult to extend your values to include the internet. If you don't do it already, then it's time to get started with everything in your home that connects them to "teachers" you would rather not have instructing your family.
2. Make sure your actions match your words. If your children catch you snooping around the Playboy web site, then they have a right to ask what's wrong with them doing the same. And if the answer is only, "You're not old enough," you can expect them to smell some hypocrisy in the air.
3. Check with your computer store (or your neighborhood "techie") for programs and equipment you can add to your home computer that will block your children's access to "adult" chat rooms and web sites. Parents have used TV blockers for years to keep children from meandering around cable channels in search of HBO's latest soft-core porn series. The same sort of devices exist for computers hooked up to the Web.
4. Work with your community and legislative representatives on laws that will achieve what you want without infringing on the right to free speech. The Supreme Court left doors open for laws that can achieve what parents need. The justices talked about "the breadth" of the law they struck down and its "open-ended prohibitions" and "general, undefined terms." A little more precision in writing laws could result in ones the judges find acceptable and parents find supportive of their efforts.
Using those steps, parents can continue to guard their children from porn, which seems always to find new ways to creep into society, the community and the family.

(07-17-97) [[In-content Ad]]