Censorship

) If you put the word "sex" into a search engine it will come up with some 30,000 results for the word (Katz 375.) However, with further examination of the first 50 sites listed, a majority of them did not contain pornographic material (Katz 375.) .
             An example of educating children about the culture and language on the internet comes from an article written by Jon Katz. Him and his wife used a method of a social contract. They have taught their 14-year-old daughter the responsibilities of being on the internet and the dangers that are associated with it. They have taught her not to give out vital information such as her name, address, and telephone number. She has also been taught simple phrases "no" and "get lost" to warn off others who want to talk dirty to her or send her pornographic pictures. She also knows that if or when these occurrences happen, to notify her parents immediately.
             There is a difficult question that needs to be answered when dealing with censorship; who is responsible for making decisions about what is pornography (Williard 407?) Who would be responsible for censoring the internet? Would it be the government, the parents, or the service providers? Once the "who" question is answered, how are they going to determine what is porn and what isn't? What's porn to one person is not porn to another. Are they going to consider everything with the word "sex" in the title pornography? How would children get vital information pertaining to sex education when it has been deemed pornography?.
             These are in fact important concerns that need not to be taken lightly. Just as importantly, we need to consider the damage that takes its toll on a young person when they encounter pornographic material on the web. Because so many children are the victims of violence, we need to censor the internet for their safety. There needs to be government legislation to control pornography on the web.