Last year students in Camden, Missouri found that they could not access affirming GLBT websites on school computers, even while websites that provided information on "reparative" therapies were visible. And students at Darmouth (Massachusetts) High School found themselves frustrated by the web software Fortigurad, which prevented them from accessing many legitimate news sources including NPR.Women looking for information on breast cancer have found themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to ask librarians to "unblock" the website so they could find out more about their condition. Even the conservative former congress member Dick Armey discovered that certain filters would prevent his constituents from finding his web presence.
Today, the American Association of School Librarians observes Banned Websites Awareness Day to bring attention to the problem of restrictive software that prevents educators, and others, from using the the resources they want, and other impacts it has on learning.
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