WOULD INTERNET SAFEGUARDS ADVERSELY AFFECT FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS?

A WebQuest for 11^th/12th Grade English Class

Designed by Sandra Bligen-Doyle

e-mail: oliviadoyle@cs.com

Introduction

The Internet is a wonderful tool that sparks the imagination. Users can whet their appetites or quench their thirst for knowledge by clicking a few keys to access search engines that will give them entry into libraries, reports, interactive sites, etc. It is a form of communication that keeps users connected to the world at large. Users of the Internet are not inhibited by ordinary restraints such as travel, time, mail, weather or closing times. Users can meet new people, play games, access books or newspapers, bank on-line, buy and sell what can be imagined and, sometimes, what cannot be imagined on line.

However, as with anything that can be used for positive outcomes, it can also be used for negative outcomes. By setting up safeguards, can users be relatively safe from pornographic sites, SPAM, chat rooms, e-commerce rip-offs, etc?

The Task

You are a member of a newly formed unit of the Mayor's Office --Cyberspace Police Unit. Your job, should you decide to accept it, is to look at the first amendment of the Constitution and determine if safeguarding cyber surfers from certain sites on the Internet would be violating their first amendment rights. You will use the INTERNET as your research device to do the following:

1. Gather data on four areas where Internet safeguards obviously could be used.

2. Within each area, state the problems that exist now, if any, without Internet safeguards

3. Suggest Internet safety measures for the four areas you, the student, have decided needs policing. Your suggestions should take into consideration the following:

a. Could the safeguard measures be easily enacted?

b. Is software available to enact safeguard measures?

c. What are the consequences of violating the safeguard measures?

4. Read the First Amendment of the Constitution and determine if the Internet safeguards you have delineated would infringe on users' first amendment rights.

5. After gathering the data, making suggestions about Internet safeguard measures, and giving the Constitution's view on the subject, STATE YOUR GROUP'S INFORMED VIEW. If your group doesn't agree as a whole, please state the dissenting views also.

The Process

1. Students will work individually to identify potential Internet safeguard areas. One or two brainstorming sessions will be required to compile and sift through the gathered data to focus on four obvious areas that could use Internet safeguarding.

2. When the four areas have been decided upon, students will be arranged into two groups. Each group will identify two of the four potential Internet safeguard areas. Group 1 and Group 2 should not have overlapping potential safeguard areas.

3. Each group should select a recorder to keep track of work gathered and its contributor.

4. Each group will now work on items 1-5 outlined in THE TASK.

5. Using the 6-step public policy analysis work sheets, which can be found at www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS.html, to organize your results.

6. Each group will prepare a report of no more than 5 pages, typed single-spaced, which will include a cover page.

7. The cover page should include the following:

y title of your research project,

y the group members' names,

y class title and teacher's name

8. Creative presentations are most welcome. Use of graphics, color, etc. are most welcome.

9. Please remember to use quotation marks, footnotes, or endnotes when using material verbatim from a source.

Resources

SEARCH ENGINES:

www.google.com

www.askjeeves.com

www.askeric.com

www.yahoo.com

WEB SITES:

www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html

www.techcorps.org/resources/internetsafety

www.neirtec.org/course_descripltion/safe.htm

www.ncac.org/issues/internetfilters.html

www.safewiredschools/org/08310/html

www.kidsource.com/kidscource/content4/internetsafety.html

These resources should help you begin your quest for information. You must access at least 10-15 sites to gather data for a credible report.

Evaluation

Please note items 1-9 of THE PROCESS to determine how you will be evaluated. In addition, the group grade will be determined by each individual's contribution. The last page of your report will include each person's contribution to the group project. Please make sure that the group recorder is aware of each person's contribution.

Extra credit will be given to the group member(s) who wish to give an oral report on their findings to the class as a whole. (please see teacher at the end of the project)

GRADING RUBRIC

A-EXCELLENT	B-GOOD	C- SATISFACTORY	D-UNSATISFACTORY
§ Report is well organized § Logical sequence to ideas and presentation § Report is well-written and highly developed § Visual aids included § group member participation by all highly evident § no grammatical or spelling errors § Report clearly and definitively defends issues	§ Report is organized and clear § Report demonstrates knowledge of subject § Logical sequence to ideas § Few spelling or grammatical errors § Group member participation evident § Report defends issues	§ Report is organized and somewhat clear § Report demonstrates some knowledge of subject § Grammatical and/or spelling errors § Some graphics present § Some group member participation § Report is vague on support of issues	§ Report is not well thought out or presented § Report does not demonstrate knowledge of subject § Many grammatical and/or spelling errors § Evidence that not all group members participated § Report is unclear as to support on issues

The following standards are being focused on:

English Language Arts performance Standards

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social

communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Social Studies performance Standards

Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Conclusion

Upon completion of this project, students will be able to use computer technology to successfully research the first amendment of the Constitution and apply that understanding to the need for safeguarding the Internet for use by everyone. Students will be able to make suggestions about how to effectively safeguard cyberspace.