children and the Net

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

From: Brendan Kehoe <brendan () zen org>


Given all of the talk about the safety of children and the Net, could you pass
this info on to folks you feel would be interested in taking part?  (It was
originally running off of media.mit.edu, but is now going from cygnus.com.)


Thanks!
Brendan




                               ANNOUNCING CACI:
                     a mailing list devoted to discussing
                 Children Accessing Controversial Information
                          through computer networks


A lot of kids are getting online these days--sharing data about acid rain,
talking about social issues, meeting adults as well as kids, and learning
about other cultures.  Computer networks hold tremendous promise, but also
raise difficult issues which need to be discussed openly.  Unfortunately, much
of the publicity related to these issues has only dealt with potential
dangers--and it has not encouraged reflection on solutions.


Can children be prevented from accessing materials which are controversial?
Is preventing access even desirable?  We believe censorship is not the answer.
What alternatives do we have or could we provide?  How do we talk with
children about these issues?  What can we say to concerned parents and school
administrators?  How and by whom are community standards set?


The stakes are clear: if we don't find ways to manage these difficult issues,
parents and school administrators may choose to deny children access to
networking in an attempt to protect them.  And prohibitions against undirected
exploration through networking could prevent many of the benefits which the
technology could support.  We hope to form a community of people interested in
discussing these issues and developing helpful materials.


To subscribe:
    Send email to: caci-request () cygnus com
    The body of the message should say:  subscribe
If you have difficulty, write to caci-owner () cygnus com


This announcement as well as additional information may be found at the URL
    http://www.zen.org/~brendan/caci.html
using any Web browser.


Please forward this announcement to others who may be interested.


 -- Brendan Kehoe, The Zen Internet Group
 http://www.zen.org/~brendan/



--
Brendan Kehoe                                                  brendan () zen org


Web page: http://www.zen.org/~brendan/