Educator's Guide to Free Speech vs. Censorship on the Internet

Free Speech vs. Censorship Student web pages Purpose The purpose of this site is to present the free speech issues that K-12 educators need to consider when allowing students to produce their own web pages. This web site should not in any way be considered a legal guide. Rather, it takes a look at the ethical and policy issues that are related to this specific situation. Organization In order to present the issues, two fictional characters have been created, Freedom Freddy and Sally the Censor, who each represent different viewpoints on a given issue. This site is divided into 6 main issues which are highlighted below. For each issue, both Freddy and Sally have written a short essay highlighting their viewpoint and supplying a few annotated resources (if available). Below is a brief biography of each of the characters. The navigation of this site is rather simple - the two large blue arrows control the navigation. Use the right arrow to move forward to the next issue or use the left arrow to manuever back to the previous issue. The home link between the arrows will take you back to this main page.
Freedom Freddy Freddy loves the 1st Amendment and in particular he loves the first five words of it, "Congress shall make no law". In his eyes, these first words are the most important part of the entire amendment. Government is out to control our lives by constantly adding laws that control radio, tv, and the Internet. Freddy believes that this is wrong and that Americans need to take control of their own lives. Freddy hates it when his freedom is impeded in order to protect someone elses. He has matching socks that go along with his bow-tie His favorite movie is "Private Parts" with Howard Stern. His favorite quote is, "If the 1st Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, then it will protect all of you. Because I'm the worst." by Larry Flynt.	HOME	Sally the Censor: Sally believes that there is already too much free speech. Why are people allowed to say whatever they want? She thinks that people have lost their values and morals. If the government doesn't watch out for us, who will? We need the governments support in order to straighten out those who have lost their values and morals. Her favorite thing to do is reminisce about the Reagan days and the moral majority She agrees with Jerry Falwell that something needs to be done about Tinky Winky. She loves rules and regulations
What are the issues... Who owns a web page? Does the location of a web page matter? In the case of libel, who is responsible? Are student web pages a right or a privilege? Should students be allowed to link to external resources? Does the purpose/context of a web page matter?