Responding to concerns about online child safety, a U.S. congressman has proposed a bill restricting the use of social networking web sites such as MySpace.com to persons 18 or older. The bill also would require educators to block students' access to these sites from school computers. But critics of the legislation, including several tech-savvy educators, say the bill is an overreaction that would prohibit students from taking advantage of the educational benefits possible in this evolving form of online communication.

Called the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006, or DOPA, the bill--introduced by Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.--is intended to keep online predators from contacting children through social networking web sites. Fitzpatrick reportedly conceived of the bill after receiving complaints from parents and educators concerned about the use of social networking sites by online predators to lure children.

The legislation would force any school or library that receives government funding to block access to any web site that "allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users, and offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, eMail, or instant messenger." The bill, which contends these resources expose students to obscene and objectionable materials available on the sites of other users, also seeks to limit access to personal networking web sites to people who are 18 or older.

In addition, DOPA would require the Federal Communications Commission to form an advisory board to discuss the problem of personal networking web sites. The Federal Trade Commission would consult the board and subsequently create a web site that includes a "distinctive, uniform resource locator" that parents, teachers, school officials, and others could use to view a list of commercial sites that have been found to permit easy access to children by predators. The site also would contain information on web safety for kids.

Despite the bill's purportedly good intentions, many educators say its far-reaching language would prohibit classroom teachers from creating lessons that explore the benefits of social networking. Instead of banning outright the use of such technologies in the classroom, critics of the bill contend, a more reasonable approach would be for educators to teach students how to use these resources safely and responsibly, while leaving the decision whether to block access to these sites at school to local administrators.

"[Such legislation] will take away our responsibility of teaching students the educational benefits of such technology and how it can be used in responsible and worthwhile ways," said Ann Davis, instructional technology specialist at the Georgia State University College of Education and a regular contributor to eSchool News Online's Ed-Tech Insider blog.