E-Rate and School Requirements (CIPA)

In 2001 Congress attempted to impose mandatory filtering as a new requirement for e-rate funding. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) mandated that school and library authorities must certify that they are enforcing a policy of Internet safety that includes measures to block or filter Internet access for both minors and adults to certain visual depictions. These include visual depictions that are (1) obscene, or (2) child pornography, or, with respect to use of computers with Internet access by minors, (3) harmful to minors. An authorized person may disable the blocking or filtering measure during any use by an adult to enable access for bona fide research or other lawful purpose. (Children’s Internet Protection Act, 2001). You might say that this is the point at which two topics we cover in this chapter, equity and responsible behavior, overlap. To receive the funds necessary to address equity, school agree to address the issues of technology-related responsible behavior.

CIPA also required that schools establish an Internet safety policy and hold a public meeting to discuss the proposed safety policy. Among other requirements, the safety policy must explain security measures protecting students during their participation in e-mail and chat as well as actions taken to prevent minors from disclosing personal information.

CIPA expectations are in constant flux. In 2008, Title II of the Broadband Improvement Act, referred to as the Protecting Children in the 21st Century act, was signed into law. The specific provisions of this act we mention here went into effect in the summer of 2012 and require that schools address issues beyond the original CIPA requirements. Expectations make specific mention of monitoring the behavior of minors as they interact with others on social networking and chat sites and developing in students an awareness of cyberbullying. Teaching students about online dangers and proactively addressing cyberbullying are expectations. In an action that may have surprised some, the FCC clearly stated that schools are not required to block sites such as Facebook. (Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, 2008).

What does this mean and what has changed? Our interpretation would be that blocking/filtering are not enough. Policies must be in place and clearly communicated, but more than notification, the new provision expects a focus on responsible use issues somewhere in the curriculum to include cyberbullying “awareness”. The expectations include cyberbullying “awareness and response” which we assume implies that schools are expected not only to inform, but to intervene when students are being cyberbullied.

CIPA guidelines have generated considerable controversy. Many public libraries, which were expected to comply because of e-rate funding, see the measures as overly repressive or demanding of too much attention from librarians who serve mainly adult patrons. Some see the requirements as violating First Amendment rights. Others complain about the imperfections of screening software and the lack of precision in the phrase “harmful to minors” (American Library Association, 2002). We do recognize that schools are in a difficult position. As we explore in greater detail in our online resources, the acts perpetrated against students (online predators, cyberbullying) seldom occur while students are physically within the school. Of course, in situations involving cyberbullying, bullyies and victims are likely to be acquainted because of school and the psychological damage resulting from cyberbullying may occur because of secondary effects involving perceived or real social consequences from school peers. Without claiming that educators alone must accept responsibility, educators are in a good position to address such problems.

Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (2008)

The Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (Title II of the Broadband Data Improvement Act) was signed into law in 2008. This legislation might be considered an extension of CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act) [link to page on erate and CIPA] and establishes specific expectations for any school receiving federal support for technology infrastructure through what is commonly referred to as the E-rate. Expectations established in this legislation are expected to be met beginning in the Fall of 2012. This legislation charges schools with establishing, clearly communicating to stakeholders, and implementing strategies to prepare students to effectively use online social communication sites. Cyberbullying awareness and response is specifically identified among the topics to be addressed. The Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act clearly requires schools accept an educational mission that goes beyond the filtering and monitoring expectations of CIPA. This legislation does not take an entirely pessimistic tone. The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) points to the potentially positive impact of social networks in K-12 education and what may seem a surprise to many specifically notes that federal law does not assume Facebook or MySpace must be blocked as harmful to minors. The legislation recognizes the important distinction between potentially damaging content and experiences and the social networking sites as communication and learning tools.

OpenDNS - example of a filtering system