So once again, our brilliant U.S. federal government (with, sadly, probably the support of a majority of boneheaded citizens and ineffectual parents) strongarmed our students into the world of the Moral Majority.

Our kids are already forced to give up rights of search and seizure. Choir kids are forced to pee into cups for mandatory drug testing. And for years, student newspapers have enjoyed practically no first amendment protections.

Adding insult to injuries, now students' research efforts are being routinely hampered because the federal government has basically forced all but the wealthiest U.S. schools to install ridiculously bug-ridden Internet filters.If you're student and trying to research breast cancer, forget it. And of course, anything dealing with information on contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, or -- probably in some cases -- even "sex discrimination" is undoubtedly more than the typical lame filters will allow. It's hard to know for sure, however, since the filter companies insist that info on what they block is strictly "proprietary." So heck, yeah, they say, we'll decide what your kids can and cannot access and study, but we're not going to let you, the parents, know any details!

But it's okay. Because Lord knows that if some of our children encountered a naked breast or saw the word "condom," they'd be scarred for life. And we all know that even sixteen-year-old students -- and for that matter, their local teachers and administrators -- simply can't be trusted to weigh the risks and benefits of filtering anyway.

Forgive my mock surprise here, but gee, you don't hear about Sweden or other European countries installing such filters. And unless I'm mistaken, their kids seem to turn out pretty well. They might even have a leg up on our children when it comes to studying Bucky Balls.

And boy, I guess THIS blog entry isn't gonna reach any American schoolkids, is it?

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