Anti-porn battle shifts to school computers
Anti-porn battle shifts to school computers
10:30, January 25, 2010 
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In its endless determination to stamp out online pornography, the Ministry of Education has now required that primary and secondary schools make regular inspections of school websites and install software filters on students' school computers.
In an announcement posted on its website last week, the ministry ordered educational campaigns to help students ward off the influence of pornography on Internet or mobile WAP sites.
"Schools should carry out educational activities tailored to different age groups, help them develop a positive attitude toward the cyber world, enhance their abilities to discern negative information, and thereby consciously resist negative content on the websites," reads the announcement.
In addition, the announcement said students should be taught not to make or spread lewd content online, not to enter profitable Internet cafes, not to access websites with lewd content and not to play lewd cyber games.
Although the definition of pornography is self-evident, the announcement did not define what the ministry considers "lewd."
Some schoolteachers and parents applauded the move.
"I fully support this activity," Xu Bo, a Beijing secondary school teacher, told the Global Times. "From recent reports on the crackdown, we have been appalled by the massive amount of pornography spread on the Internet.
"Adolescents have a weak sense of judging negative effects, so they will eventually benefit from this move."
Xu suggested that the ministry publish a more specific regulation on enforcement of the anti-porn campaign, and insist that parental participation is a must.
Fu Wen, father of a 12-year-old primary school student in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, told the Global Times that he would do anything good for his son.
Although he said he never worried that his son would be influenced by online pornography.
"He uses the Internet to discuss homework with his classmates. He's an excellent student. He is just too far away from those obscene images," said Fu.
Some teenagers suggested that the campaign is as futile as lighting a candle in bright sun-shine, because they could have fun at Internet cafés.
Wang Tao, a secondary school student who had just rushed out from a small hidden Internet café on Jintai Road, Beijing, told the Global Times that his classmates seldom use school computers to surf the Web.
"We play World of Warcraft. It's impossible to play on the school's computers. So we play the game here," he said.
Source:cctv.com
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In an announcement posted on its website last week, the ministry ordered educational campaigns to help students ward off the influence of pornography on Internet or mobile WAP sites.
"Schools should carry out educational activities tailored to different age groups, help them develop a positive attitude toward the cyber world, enhance their abilities to discern negative information, and thereby consciously resist negative content on the websites," reads the announcement.
In addition, the announcement said students should be taught not to make or spread lewd content online, not to enter profitable Internet cafes, not to access websites with lewd content and not to play lewd cyber games.
Although the definition of pornography is self-evident, the announcement did not define what the ministry considers "lewd."
Some schoolteachers and parents applauded the move.
"I fully support this activity," Xu Bo, a Beijing secondary school teacher, told the Global Times. "From recent reports on the crackdown, we have been appalled by the massive amount of pornography spread on the Internet.
"Adolescents have a weak sense of judging negative effects, so they will eventually benefit from this move."
Xu suggested that the ministry publish a more specific regulation on enforcement of the anti-porn campaign, and insist that parental participation is a must.
Fu Wen, father of a 12-year-old primary school student in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, told the Global Times that he would do anything good for his son.
Although he said he never worried that his son would be influenced by online pornography.
"He uses the Internet to discuss homework with his classmates. He's an excellent student. He is just too far away from those obscene images," said Fu.
Some teenagers suggested that the campaign is as futile as lighting a candle in bright sun-shine, because they could have fun at Internet cafés.
Wang Tao, a secondary school student who had just rushed out from a small hidden Internet café on Jintai Road, Beijing, told the Global Times that his classmates seldom use school computers to surf the Web.
"We play World of Warcraft. It's impossible to play on the school's computers. So we play the game here," he said.
Source:cctv.com
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