Karen wrote:
The front page should have a note on it in the introduction, saying something like 'While the wikipedia does not condone obscenity,
articles
may contain adult concepts and language unsuitable for children.
Please
supervise your children's access.' or whatever...
Erik replied:
I strongly object against this. This implies that the concept of
obscenity
is generally shared, which it isn't. If you get your obscenity
warning label,
I want my "religious content" warning label. And someone else may
want a
warning label that Wikipedia may be offensive to people having
suffered from
certain traumas. And maybe the creationists and anti-abortionists
want one, too.
I am not interested in endorsing RSAC in any way (or any other of the clumsy inaccurate tools used to protect people from information on breast cancer, anarchism, political prisoners, etc.) Software IMHO is not a substitute for parenting, which of course includes answering difficult questions (lest you want them to find answers from someone else, which children invariably will).
kq
All comprehensive web sites allow access to material unsuitable for children as well as copious offensive material. In addition to encyclopedias, this is true of almost all bookstores and libraries and internet portals. A short warning is appropriate. But the problem is not deliberate inclusion of offensive material; it's just a phenomenon which comes with the territory. One can create a child safe and friendly site, but many seeming inoxious links must be excluded.
Fred
wikipedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org