Nontechnical Strategies to Reduce Children's Exposure to Inappropriate Material on the Internet

In response to a mandate from Congress in conjunction with the Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine established a committee of experts to explore options to protect children from pornography and other inappropriate Internet content. In June 2000, the Committee to Study Tools and Strategies for Protecting Kids from Pornography on the Internet and Their Applicability to Other Inappropriate Internet Content was established. Support for the committee's work came from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, Microsoft Corporation, IBM, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the National Research Council. The committee has been charged with exploring the pros and cons of different technology options and operational policies as well as nontechnical strategies that can help to provide young people with positive and safe online experiences.

On December 13, 2000, the committee convened a workshop to provide public input to its work and focus on nontechnical strategies that could be effective in a broad range of settings (e.g., home, school, libraries) in which young people might be online. The overarching goal of this activity was to provide a forum for discussing the implications of this research with regard to policy and practice and identifying research needed to advance and inform policy and practice.