"porn" in the library

[KellyHabersham]

*Not quite sure how to word this one, and some aspects of this I'd rather not get into because it's "Fratching" material, so I'm just focusing on where I thought this guy/situation was sucky*

Yesterday afternoon, "SuckyDad" and his daughter were in the children's room at the library, and apparently he witnessed some kids using one of the computers in that area to look at porn. I don't know exactly what circumstances he noticed this under, but he did NOT say anything to any of the staff until some time later, when I was re-shelving DVD's and he approached me about it.

"SuckyDad" wasn't yelling or being verbally abusive, but he was adamant about letting me know that his daughter was never going to be allowed in the library by herself.......it seems that in his mind, he associated kids who somehow got around Internet filters with child molestors hanging around libraries. (I should probably also mention that he offered no details as to what the so-called porn was, it could very well have been something "clean")

Anyhow, this guy wasn't sucky towards me personally, but he seemed to feel that we should personally monitor everyone who uses the Internet, and apparently he also made a complaint with staff at the customer service desk. Needless to say, none of us quite understood why "SuckyDad" didn't say anything when he first witnessed the "porn viewing", and waited until the kids had left.

[RxBoy]

I love how people act that way. Something bad or wrong happens that should be handled immediately, yet they keep quiet. They complain later after the fact when there's nothing that can be done. The fact is that porn filters are just one tool to keep kids safe online. No matter how great of a filter it is, there are always going to be ways to get around it and there are always going to be sites that get missed.

If the guy was really that worried about it he should have told the kids to close the site and then went right up to a staff member and alerted them to the problem. But of course as you said it wasn't necessarily anything pornographic. Depending on his personal views it could have been real porn or it could have been a youtube video from a scene on a soap opera. Who knows.

[KellyHabersham]

What I found odd is that with the level of filtering which we have on the children's computers, nobody should be able to access anything even remotely related to porn. So it's hard to say if this guy actually had a legit complaint or not.

[zombiequeen]

Knowing how strict some parent's can be, it could have been as simple as cleavage or a person in a small swimsuit (like a bikini). Or, because it could be the other way, as hardcore of porn as is legal (if even that) in the country.

It's really hard to tell...my dad gets all upset over Victoria's Secret advertisements...and my mum starts screaming porn if it shows hand holding or kissing...

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

What I found odd is that with the level of filtering which we have on the children's computers, nobody should be able to access anything even remotely related to porn. So it's hard to say if this guy actually had a legit complaint or not.

There aren't any filters I know of that can't be circumvented, some quite easily.

[cinema guy]

my dad gets all upset over Victoria's Secret advertisements...and my mum starts screaming porn if it shows hand holding or kissing...

My goodness, it is a wonder you were ever concieved!

[kibbles]

So he basically finished watching whatever was on the screen before complaining?? LOL!!

[Imprl59]

Kids looking at porn. How shocking! Please.....

I just wish we had computers when I was kid instead of all of us fighting over the Sears catalogue

[KellyHabersham]

So he basically finished watching whatever was on the screen before complaining?? LOL!!

That's kind of what I've wondered about.......how exactly it came around that he noticed this alleged porn viewing.

[TheRabbi]

I support those kids! The library should be a place for free (more as in speech than as in beer) access to information.

[AyreBiskits]

one person's definition of porn will not be the same as everybody else's. i was always finding magazines (the usual supermarket women's magazines) facing the other way on the rack and there was nothing pornographic on the cover. the women are fully clothed and there's no dirty words on the cover but the magazine would be turned over. some people are just overly sensitive and feel it is their duty to shield everyone else from what they consider "porn".

[Chromatix]

In many Middle Eastern countries, showing the knees is considered pornographic.

So you will see magazines specially printed for distribution in, say, Dubai - and the advertisements for Western products, which often have "lightly clothed" women in them, will have enormous censor bars across them.

[Thud-n-Blunder]

... some people are just overly sensitive and feel it is their duty to shield everyone else from what they consider "porn".

I'm reminded of what happened in 1989, when Life magazine did an issue about the 100th anniversary of the bra... with the cover showing a woman wearing an opened shirt, revealing her bra. A lot of people got badly bent out of shape about that, accusing Life of doing soft-core porn.

I'm SO glad that we've gotten past that point now. </sarcasm>

Oh, drat - did I forget the initial <sarcasm> tag? I hate it when I do that...

[Magpie]

Oh, drat - did I forget the initial <sarcasm> tag? I hate it when I do that...

I think you forgot more tags than just that one...

[Calvin St.Hobbes]

Back before I got my computer (mid/late 90's) I hit the library across the street from where I worked during lunch to hit the computers they had and I remember one particularly high octane hissy fit being thrown by a couple of patrons because somebody was looking at pix of women in swimsuits.....and the annual SI Swimsuit issue controversies were alwayd epic in scope (as was the laughter from the normal people around town)