[Publib] Minimum Age for Computer Use?

[Mary Soucie]

Catherine,
We require anyone under 18 to have parent or guardian signature to use
the computer. All ages must sign our agreement. Under 10 must have an
adult sitting with them to use the computer. 
 
Mary J. Soucie, MLIS
Library Director
Wilmington Public Library District
Visit the world @ your library(tm)
201 S Kankakee St
Wilmington IL 60481
(815) 476-2834
mjsoucie at wilmingtonlibrary.org
 
Wilmington Public Library District is committed to providing excellent
comprehensive service to its community.
 
 

________________________________

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Catherine Adair
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 7:36 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Minimum Age for Computer Use?


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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