CIPA and COPPA are both acts intended to help protect
children when they use the internet. Children’s
Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was passed by Congress in 2000 in efforts to
curb “children’s access to obcene or harmful content over the Internet” (Federal Communications Commission, 2015) . It requires schools
and libraries to block or filter pictures from the Internet that are: obscene,
child pornography, or harmful to minors (Federal Communications Commission, 2015) . Along with the
filters, schools must also provide education to students about appropriate
online behavior. There is funding that is attached to this act. Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed in 1998 in order to curb
the information that is collected by websites from minors. COPPA is
specifically geared towards websites or online services directed towards
children under 13 years old.
Both of these acts are meant to protecting children, defined
here by children under the age of 13. These acts were put in place fairly early
in the Internet being readily available to everyone. It is clear that the FCC
was trying to think ahead and protect a population that may not be able to make
the best decisions for themselves. When CIPA was passed, there was an outrage
because public libraries were being forced to block material that would be acceptable
to adults. The ALA went all the way to
the Supreme Court, which found the law to acceptable as long as the librarian
would unblock the content for the adult when needed.
As far as using this in the classroom, from what I can tell
this isn’t something that you would specifically discuss with kids. A lot of
this falls on the teacher to make sure they are complying with CIPA and COPPA.
It is important to know that as a teacher, your computer is not subject to
CIPA. You should have access to the internet, unblocked, in order to plan for
lessons. I found this web
site to be incredible helpful in explaining the different aspects of
internet safety and education.
