IF Action Round Up, May 18-24, 2012
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OIF sponsors IFAction, an email list for those who would like updated information on news affecting intellectual freedom, censorship, privacy, access to information, and more. To subscribe to this list, visit http://lists.ala.org/wws/subscribe/ifaction. For an archive of all postings to the list since 1996, visit http://lists.ala.org/wws/arc/ifaction. Below is a sample of articles from May 18-24, 2012.
Censorship
Annville-Cleona School Board stays strong on decision to ban ‘The Dirty Cowboy’
District plans to screen books closer (TX“Stuck in Neutral” by Terry Trueman)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally to Discuss Risks of Internet
Libraries Debate Stocking ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Trilogy
Easton School Board: “Nickel and Dimed” Can Stay
‘Feed’ debate leads to look at parental notification policy
Privacy
School officials’ Facebook rummaging prompts mom’s privacy crusade
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Surveillance Case
California Considers Bill to Require Permission to Collect, Analyze DNA
New York legislation would ban anonymous online speech
Study: Patriot Act Gives US Government No Special Access to Cloud Data
FBI quietly forms secretive Net-surveillance unit
Access
A Petition for Free Online Access of Taxpayer-funded Research
House to hold hearing on international control of the Internet
One thought on “IF Action Round Up, May 18-24, 2012”
Re: “District plans to screen books closer” and Terry Trueman’s “Stuck in Neutral.” I just want to say I can’t believe Humble ISD is planning to revamp the vetting process for books taught in the classrooms. This could result in the suppression of books with merit and teachers’ self-censoring. The IF Manual (p.25) states–“parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves.” Contemporary YA fiction is going to contain hard, disturbing reality. That is what makes it authentic. To refrain from teaching books without complex plots and nonlinear story lines, inherit in contemporary fiction, is to deny adolescents the opportunity to gain critical thinking skills. Once this bar is set, books like Kate Dicamillo’s “Because of Winn-Dixie” could come under fire. If you look closely enough, parents could find examples of wrongful or irresponsible parenting in just about every other book. One parent’s views should not dictate the views of another.