[Publib] Minimum Age for Computer Use?

[Catherine Adair]

After all of the discussion about MySpace and YouTube, I have another question about internet use in libraries.  Does anyone out there have an internet policy with a minimum age requirement for computer use?  Our current policy allows kids under the age of 18 to go online with a signed parental permission slip.  However, with the advent of Webkins, we've noticed that our clientele is getting younger and younger (sometimes two or three years old).  We're a small library, so unfortunately we don't have separate computers for kids.  We currently have only seven public computers, all of which are frequently monopolized by the under-ten crowd.
   
  We're considering a minimum age requirement to address a few different problems.  The main issue lies with parents who leave their kids unsupervised in the computer/reference room.  I'm often the only adult in there, and if I'm off at lunch, it's unattended (I came back the other day to find a five year old completely alone in the room).  Our behavior policy covers unaccompanied children, but parents pay little attention to this no matter how often we remind them about it.  I'm particularly concerned because of how young the kids are and how casual the parents are about leaving them alone.  In this circumstance, I'm really more worried about "stranger danger" than I am about the keyboards being pounded and printer paper being wasted.  What's a librarian to do?
   
  Is it wrong of me to consider an age restriction?  Enforcing our behavior policy (short of calling the police to report abandoned children) has proven futile.  Until we're able to afford more computers for the kids, I'm not sure what else to do.  I'd love to hear about other policies that address this issue.
   
  Thanks for your help!
   
  Catherine Adair Williams
  Senior Librarian
  Verona Public Library
  Verona, NJ

       
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