CyberIsle is a Web-based virtual community that seeks to provide a compelling and safe environment for teenagers to explore issues around their sexuality, alcohol, cigarette, and drug use. The NICE Project gives K-12 students the opportunity to construct, cultivate, and preserve a virtual garden. We have all recognized that the Internet has enormous potential to foster the growth of children by encouraging them to communicate and exchange ideas. With this potential for growth, however, comes a potential for risk and a need for responsibility. The interactivity provided by the Internet, while providing opportunity for learning and self-expression, also raises some troubling issues.
Children can interact with others online without parental supervision.
Indeed, while the Internet offers children unprecedented and important new educational and recreational opportunities, the medium may also offer access to inappropriate material, exposure to unknown individuals, or exposure to unfair marketing or information collection practices. The challenge for parents, teachers, and librarians is to realize the potential of the Internet for their children, while avoiding the possible perils. Ensuring a safe and enriching online environment requires us to strike a delicate balance between protecting children, preserving First Amendment freedoms, and respecting the privacy rights of all who seek to read, communicate, and associate with others on the Internet. Libraries, as institutions dedicated to promoting access to information, can play a pivotal role in preserving the fundamental First Amendment freedoms and privacy interests that allow people to exercise their right to read and access information. Libraries also serve as an important gateway to knowledge for children.