US Senate proposes Net filtering for schools

The US Senate has proposed compulsory Web filtering for all state-funded school computers.

Andre Wagstaff, head of National Grid liaison and UK government advisor at the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), said: "We will watch the effect of this with great interest."

Becta has already had numerous discussions with the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) about content filtering. A DfEE spokesman said that the UK government advises schools to consider Web filtering, but has no plans for other action.

"This issue is extremely complex and there is no perfect answer," Wagstaff said. "If you block keywords such as anatomical terms, you risk losing educational content. Becta believes a child should not access the Web without proper adult supervision - although a school may set up its own safe areas."

Stephen Heppel, leader of Anglia Polytechnic University's IT research program, Ultralab, agreed: "Technology is not the answer - you need to establish what is appropriate behaviour," he said. Heppel advocates putting school computers in places where the monitors are clearly visible.

The US proposal expects each school to define for itself which content is "harmful" for children, and to set up filters accordingly. Heppel agreed that in the event of a lawsuit, the US law would pass responsibility from the government - who paid for the computer - to the local school.

The Senate's proposal will now be debated by the full parliament.