Skip to: Content
Skip to: Section Navigation
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

Intellectual Freedom for Young People

Hot Issues

Young people have First Amendment rights . This page will provide information and links to explore these rights. This page is dedicated to hot issues. See also Intellectual Freedom for Young People Home Page, School: Intellectual Freedom for Young People, and Especially for Young People and Their Parents. Under Hot Issues are links to recent news stories of issues affecting especially young people's rights. See also First Amendment Court Cases, and Wiretap.

| Worthwhile Places to Visit | Hot Issues | Quotations |

HOT ISSUE ALERT

See ALA's Interactive Web applications wiki for the latest on DOPA and DOPA-like legislation.

DOPA and the Participation Gap (PDF; September 11, 2006)

Contact your Senators about the Importance of Social Networking Sites

On Wednesday, July 28, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the amended H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), by a vote of 410-15. We believe the legislation will now go to the Senate, which may or may not have time to vote on this before their session ends for the year.

Please contact your Senators about the importance of social networking sites. Share with them personal stories about how you or your library patrons use these sites in educational ways. Let them know what negative impact of DOPA or similar legislation will have on libraries and library users if it passes.

Background information about this issue can be viewed on the ALA Web site located at:

   

Worthwhile Places to Visit

Banned Books Week

Select Books and Web Sites on Intellectual Freedom

First Amendment Court Cases 

Intellectual Freedom for Children: The Censor is Coming

International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010)

Youth for Human Rights International

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Promises Broken: An Assessment of Children's Rights

Peace Takes Courage

Youth Policy Action Center

Mobilize.org

Kids Speak Online!

As If! Young Adult authors supporting intellectual freedom

"AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) champions those who stand against censorship, especially of books for and about teens."

Peacefire

Secrecy News

Wiretap

Youth Free Expression Network

YouthAction

Do People Still Burn Books?

   

Hot Issues

   

Bullies and Bullying

See additional resources below 

Anti-bullying policy

"Bullying hurts and you don't have to endure it. If you are on the receiving end of bullying, there are many things that can be done to make your life easier. This web site is intended to show pupils, their families and teachers how to tackle a problem that has gone on for far too long.

It is packed with new ideas, practical techniques and the valuable experiences of those who have been bullied, or have even bullied others, to demonstrate that you need not Suffer in Silence.

All schools are likely to have some problem with bullying at one time or another. It is essential that your child's school has an anti-bullying policy, and uses it to reduce and prevent bullying, as many schools have already successfully done."

Bullying can include the following:

  • name calling and teasing
  • threats and extortion
  • physical violence
  • damage to someone's belongings
  • leaving pupils out of social activities deliberately and frequently
    spreading malicious rumours
  • bullying by mobile phone text messages or e-mail

   

Additional Resources

See also Safety Resources for Young People.      

Children's Rights

 
"The existence of child labor is the worst form of human rights violation. Even animals do not allow their babies to produce wealth and food for them. In the animal world adults arrange food for their babies. Sadly, in human society we do it the other way around."
 
 
"Every recognized country in the world, except for the United States and the collapsed state of Somalia, has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, pledging to uphold its protections for children. Today the convention stands as the single most widely ratified treaty in existence. Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989, the promises of this historic document include children’s rights to life; to be free from discrimination; to be protected in armed conflicts; to be protected from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; to be free from arbitrary deprivation of liberty; to special treatment within the justice system; and the rights to education, health care, an adequate standard of living, and freedom from economic exploitation and other abuse."
 
See also
 
 
"Q: Who has not ratified and why not?
A: The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. Only two countries, Somalia and the United States, have not ratified this celebrated agreement. Somalia is currently unable to proceed to ratification as it has no recognized government. By signing the Convention, the United States has signalled its intention to ratify - but has yet to do so.
 
As in many other nations, the United States undertakes an extensive examination and scrutiny of treaties before proceeding to ratify. This examination, which includes an evaluation of the degree of compliance with existing law and practice in the country at state and federal levels, can take several years—or even longer if the treaty is portrayed as being controversial or if the process is politicized. For example, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide took more than 30 years to be ratified in the United States and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was signed by the United States 17 years ago, still has not been ratified. Moreover, the US Government typically will consider only one human rights treaty at a time. Currently, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is cited as the nation's top priority among human rights treaties."

Filtering

Consumer Reports' (CR) Latest Tests of Filtering Software (June 2005)
"Show that while Internet blockers have gotten better at blocking pornography, the best also tend to block many sites they shouldn't. In addition, Consumer Reports found the software to be less effective at blocking sites promoting hatred, illegal drugs or violence. The June issue includes ratings of 11 popular filtering software products and advice for concerned parents who are trying to better protect their children online. . . . Filters kept out most, but not all, of the pornography. The worst performer blocked 88 percent, enough to serve as an obstacle, but not impervious to a persistent teen. — Information sites can be snubbed, too. The best porn blockers were heavy-handed against sites about health issues, sex education, civil rights and politics."

First Amendment

A national study commissoned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut says that America's high schools are leaving the First Amendment behind. Educators are not giving high school students an appreciation of free speech and free press, according to the study researchers, who questioned more than 100,000 high school students, nearly 8,000 teachers, and more than 500 principals and administrators. For more on the study and how to support high school media, free expression, and students' legal rights, visit these sites, which are part of the Knight Foundation's long term commitment to scholastic journalism. See also Future of the First Amendment (the survey).
 
The Right to Receive Information (PDF) by Susan Nevelow Mart
"Although the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to free speech, if you can’t get access to the speech, the value of the guarantee diminishes. To address the issue of access, the United States Supreme Court developed the theory in Martin v. Struthers that there is a constitutional right to receive information. Although this case was about door-to-door pamphleteers, many of the major battles over the right to receive information have arisen in the library context. Libraries have been the setting for legal battles about student access to books, removal or retention of "offensive" material, regulation of patron behavior, and limitations on public access to the Internet. The first Supreme Court case to consider the right to receive information in a library setting was Board of Education v. Pico.

GenocideThe Right to Receive Information

A Conversation on Contemporary Genocide and Crimes against Humanity

From Memory to Action is the blog of the Student Board on Genocide Prevention of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This conversation on contemporary genocide and crimes against humanity includes what is happening in Darfur today and what you can do on your campus to bring an end to the genocide in Darfur.

Staring Genocide in the Face

A documentary on Darfur, by Jerry Fowler, Committee on Conscience, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

   

Peace

Peace Takes Courage

Home page of Ava Lowery, a fifteen-year-old Alabama girl who is gaining national attention for her anti-war Web site (April 27, 2006). See also http://peacetakescourage.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ for her films.

Weapons of Mass Instruction: Anti-war Books for Young People

"This list was built from the contributions of librarians, educators, parents, and young readers. To add your suggestions and to comment on titles you see here, please write to Alison Clement or Bruce Jensen. We welcome any information you have on titles you suggest, such as age/reading level, publishers, and your thumbnail reviews or personal experiences with the books. The titles are linked to reviews and publication details, most at the site of a gargantuan online bookstore simply because it does such a good job of furnishing this kind of data. That's not to be interpreted as an endorsement; we urge you to buy from local independent booksellers. BookSense.com can help you find them."

60 Women Contributing to the 60 Years of UNESCO

"60 Women contributing to the 60 years of UNESCO – Constructing the Foundations of Peace has been conceptualized, directed and edited by Ingeborg Breines, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Offi ce Geneva, and Hans d’Orville, Director of the Bureau of Strategic Planning, UNESCO."
"Help us raise awareness & funds to clear mines and help survivors on & around. No More Landmines Day 2004 was on 4th November - but No More Landmines awareness and fundraising activities take place in schools year round. Get your school involved."
"War has killed two million children in the last decade alone. Four million children have become disabled and hundreds of thousands serve as child soldiers. Nearly half of all refugees worldwide are under 18, and across the globe, an estimated 25 million children have been uprooted from their homes as a result of war.BEYOND THE FIRE introduces the real-life stories of 15 teenagers, now living in the U.S., who have survived war in seven war zones. These stories tell of loss, hope, fear, strength and despair—and most of all, resilience."
The Manifesto 2000 for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence was written by the Nobel Prize Peace Laureates, in order to create a sense of responsibility starting on a personal level; it is not an appeal or petition addressed to a higher authority. It is the responsibility of each and every individual to put into practice the values, attitudes and forms of behaviour which inspire the culture of peace. Everyone can contribute to this aim within their family, their area, their town, their region and their country by promoting non-violence, tolerance, dialogue, reconciliation, justice and solidarity on a daily basis.

Privacy

 
“For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that—either now or in the uncertain future—patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable.”—The Eternal Value of Privacy by Bruce Schneier

Radio Frequency Identification Chips and Systems

See also RFID.
 
Children and RFID Systems (February 8, 2005)

"EPIC Urges to Stop RFID-Tracking Scheme for School Children. EPIC, along with EFF and the ACLU-Northern California, urged the Brittan School Board in a joint letter to terminate an experimental program using mandatory ID badges tracking children’s movements in and around the school with RFID technology. The letter argues that the program breaches children's right to privacy and dignity as human beings by treating them like cattle or a piece of inventory, and that the RFID badges jeopardize the safety and security of students by broadcasting their identity and location information to anyone with a chip reader."

Big Brother Under Your Skin The future is now. The microchip implant for humans is here. Free with every vente latte! (October 20, 2004)

It is all possible. It is all just on the cusp. All we must do is welcome the sinister intimations and the positively draconian implications and say a big warm slightly terrified hello to the new, FDA-approved implantable microchip, coming soon to a hospital and a Starbucks and a bleak government agency and a human dermal layer near you. Very, very near you.

Three R's: Reading, Writing, RFID

"Stillman has gone whole-hog for radio-frequency technology, which his year-old Enterprise Charter School started using last month to record the time of day students arrive in the morning. In the next months, he plans to use RFID to track library loans, disciplinary records, cafeteria purchases and visits to the nurse's office. Eventually he'd like to expand the system to track students' punctuality (or lack thereof) for every class and to verify the time they get on and off school buses."

"The school spent $25,000 on the ID system. The $3 ID tags students wear around their necks at all times incorporate the same Texas Instruments smart labels used in the wristbands worn by inmates at the Pima County jail in Texas. Similar wristbands are used to track wounded U.S. soldiers and POWs in Iraq and by the Magic Waters theme park in Illinois for cashless purchases."

Social Networking

“The Internet is changing how we live and interact with one another—it’s enabled great advancements in distance learning and collaborative learning communities. HR 5319 would squash kids’ first attempts at becoming acquainted with applications that will soon be essential workplace tools.”—Bernadette Murphy, Communications Director, American Library Association, Washington Office, quoted in The Pandora’s Box of Social Networking.

The Pandora’s Box of Social Networking is an article by Meryl K. Evans, TechNewsWorld, about HR 5319, the “Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006” (DOPA), recently introduced by Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. This legislation would ban access to social networking sites in schools and libraries.

For additional information, see Contact your Senators about the Importance of Social Networking Sites. Find out how to oppose legislation that would “squash kids’ first attempts at becoming acquainted with applications that will soon be essential workplace tools,” take action at the ALA Legislative Action Center. To learn more about what you can do to support intellectual freedom, visit What You Can Do To Oppose Censorship.

Women's Rights

What is Human Trafficking? (PDF)

"Traffi cking in persons is modern-day slavery involving human beings who are bought, sold, and forced into slave labor and/or sexual exploitation. The U.S. government estimates that up to 800,000 people are taken from their homes and families and forced across international borders each year, while millions more are traffi cked within their own countries. Eighty percent are women and girls." See also Human Trafficking for links to organizations.

   

Quotations

"Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, "The One Un-American Act."  Nieman Reports,  vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan. 1953): p. 20.

“The longer we listen to one another—with real attention, sharing more than opinion but life experiences—the more commonalty we will find in all our lives”—Barbara Deming

“Now that eighteen-year-olds have the right to vote, it is obvious that they must be allowed the freedom to form their political views on the basis of uncensored speech before they turn eighteen, so that their minds are not a blank when they first exercise the franchise. And since an eighteen-year-old’s right to vote is a right personal to him rather than a right to be exercised on his behalf by his parents, the right of parents to enlist the aid of the state to shield their children from ideas of which the parents disapprove cannot be plenary either. People are unlikely to become well-functioning, independent-minded adults and responsible citizens if they are raised in an intellectual bubble.”—Seventh District Judge Richard Posner, American Amusement Machine Association, et al., v. Teri Kendrick, et al., 244 F.3d 954 (7th Cir. 2001); cert.denied, 534 U.S. 994; 122 S. Ct. 462; 151 L. Ed. 2d 379 (2001) Enacted in July 2001, an Indianapolis, Ind., city ordinance required video game arcade owners to limit access to games that depicted certain activities. Only with the permission of an accompanying parent or guardian could children seventeen years old and younger play these types of video games. On March 23, 2001, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the trial court's decision stating that "children have First Amendment rights." On Monday, October 29, 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari. See Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 U.S. 205 (1975)—"Speech that is neither obscene as to youths nor subject to some other legitimate proscription cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable [422 U.S. 205, 214] for them. In most circumstances, the values protected by the First Amendment are no less applicable when government seeks to control the flow of information to minors. See Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist., supra. Cf. West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).".