Andy Carvin has generated another post on one of his favorite topics – DOPA (now Protecting Children in the 21st Century). Andy does a great job of explaining what is happening with this legislation. The topic concerns the responsibility of school and libraries to prevent minors from accessing content/experiences that put them at risk and an important area of controversy involves access to commercial social networking sites.
What I would like to see in this debate is a discussion of the costs and benefits. What is known about the actual exposure to risk within schools and elsewhere? How much would total risk be reduced if the exposure within schools were eliminated (along with any related opportunities)? Will educators spend an equal amount of time addressing risks if such risks could not possibly be encountered within a school setting?
There are many examples of this kind of decision making involved in education. Students play football despite a certain level of injury. Students use power equipment in shop despite a certain level of injury. School buses do not require seat belts despite a certain level of injury. Students walk to and from schools despite a > 0 risk. etc.
