State ready to filter internet use in schools

School kids across Iowa may soon find it more difficult to sneak a peak atpornography or violence on the Internet. State officials are solicitingbids from companies to establish a statewide filtering system for schoolcomputers. Representative Rosemary Thompson, a republican from Marion, saysteachers in computer labs can’t police every student’s Internet usage.The legislature set aside 50-thousand dollars to buy the computer filteringsystem, a move Thompson says was in reaction to last spring’s schoolshooting in Colorado.Thompson says the goal is to have the statewide filtering system in place bysecond semester.Several computer filtering companies monitor Internet sites which featureporn and violence, updating web addresses every 24 hours and blocking accessto the objectionable sites.