Council to consider computer porn safeguards

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- With Internet access on its computers, the city

library has been struggling to protect children from sexually explicit

Web sites while respecting the freedom to find information.

And on Monday, the City Council will consider whether the library’s

policy offers enough protection.

“It’s really a controversial issue in our profession,” said Ron Hayden,

the city’s library director. “Our intent is not to be a censor or a

police force.”

But there are risks to exposing “an immature mind” to pornography, he

said.

“It’s one of the age-old questions,” he said. “Are children able to

understand?”

The library’s policy, approved by its board of directors, requires

children 15 or younger to use special computers that filter out most of

the objectionable material, he said. A separate room offers computers

with unlimited access to the Web for users who are at least 16, he said.

Donna Alexander, president of the Spring View Parent Teacher Student

Assn., said the age limit for unlimited Internet use should be higher.

“Boy, 16 -- what a vulnerable age,” she said. “That kind of scares me. At

that age, especially, you give them an inch and they’ll run with a mile.”

Under its policy, if the library staff receives a complaint from a patron

who is offended by someone’s viewing of adult material, that user is

asked to move to another station or stop looking at the site, he said. No

one has complained yet, he said. However, a few months ago, a father was

showing his son a picture of a naked woman on a computer in the

children’s section, and a staff member asked him to move to the adult

section, which he did.

The filtering software installed on the computers reserved for the very

young rely heavily on explicit words, so some images may slip through,

Hayden said. That’s why the library posts signs warning parents they

still need to watch over their children, he said.

At one point, the library asked parents to sign a consent form showing

they understood the risk. But more often than not, the parents declined,

saying they felt adequate safeguards were already in place, Hayden said.

But signing a release makes sense to Alexander.

“Otherwise, you’re going to have parents saying, ‘I didn’t see that

sign,”’ she said.

The filtering system may also block some nonpornographic information,

such as facts on the human anatomy. But City Councilwoman Pam Julien said

that’s a price she’s willing to pay.

“I’d rather they go too far than not far enough,” she said.

City Councilman Tom Harman, an attorney, said he’s concerned about the

threat to freedom of expression, but he declined to take a position until

he learns more about the library’s rules.

“Are there pornographic books at the library? Are those regulated?,”

Harman asked.

Julien would favor blocking the explicit sites not just from the

children’s computers, but also from those used by adults.

“You don’t know who is going to be walking by,” she said. “A public

library should be a place where you can go and not have to worry.”

The City Council will meet at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber,

2000 Main St.

QUESTION

FOR ADULTS ONLY?

Do you think more should be done to protect children and teens from

pornographic material through the Internet? Leave your thoughts on our

Readers Hotline at 965-7175, send e-mail to [email protected] or fax

965-7174. Please spell your name and tell us your hometown.