Recently, a librarian in California was accused of slapping a ten-year-old she caught looking at pornography (Click here to read the news article). While this incident quickly reignites the debate over filtering on library computers what I want to focus on is the actions of the librarians mentioned in the article. First, I cannot blame the librarian for being "shocked" when coming across a child viewing pornography. I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt that she only put her hand on his back. But this incident clearly shows that librarians need to be very careful how they react in such situations particularly with children. Unfortunately, after searching the Salinas library's web page I could not find their internet use policy. I was curious if there were any limits on children's internet usage that would have prevented this incident.
What really stood out to me was the fact that librarians regularly look over the shoulders of patrons using the internet. Clearly patrons do not have full privacy. But most of all this situation puts librarians into the role of policing what patrons are viewing. Which can be uncomfortable for all involved. I feel librarians need to protect the rights of patrons to view materials of their choosing, but also protect patrons from having to view materials they do not want to see. With most internet terminals being in public areas this can be difficult. The best solution is to have a well stated internet use policy and educate all internet users. Librarians should know how to react to these situations before they happen to avoid what happened in this case.
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I think it would be good to know what they consider to be pornography. I know that a lot of young people view social network sites and view the pictures of others. These pictures can be very provocative, even those of young people. At most libraries, the computers are set up so that anyone walking by can see what a person is viewing and if a person just happens to glance, they may not see what they think they're seeing. I also know that there are times that I'd like to slap patrons, but I am able to control my actions as well as my words.
ReplyDeleteThe ALA clearly upholds the freedom to view, even by minors. With that having been said, they also say that parents should monitor their children's activities. Locating the child's guardian should have been the first response.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of the comments already posted.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation, it seems that the obvious course of action for the librarian on duty would be to immediately end the viewing, attempt to notify the parent, and state the library policy to the young person or their parent, if available.
There should be no reason for a librarian to ever touch a young person unless for reasons involving self-defense.
Frankly, I would not have been shocked, merely surprised to find a 10 year old accessing a porn site. I am a lab tech at Carmel Clay and one of my responsibilities is to monitor what is being accessed. I am constantly amazed at what people will access on public computers. I have seen patrons access bank records and then walk away with their bank statement still on the screen. Personally, I think people should access what information they desire; however, because this is an open public area others should not have to view content that may be offensive to them. Another consideration is local obscenity ordinances, which prohibit public displays.
ReplyDeleteAs for the case in Salinas, the librarian should have told the young man to back away from the computer, then turn off the screen while another staff member located the parent. If the parent was not at the library he should have been told to contact the parent and then decide what the appropriate measures should be taken.