Pornography is allowed by the freedom of press dictated in the First Amendment. However, the problem is who is sitting in front of the computer screen: children. With the boom of the information highway, billions of sites have become available to anyone who possesses the equipment and the "know-how". Yes, information is at the world"s fingertips; but so are pornography, drugs, and weapons. While the government does not possess the right to censure the Internet, legislation, to provide filters, is imperative to prevent the pervasion of perversion.

             An extremely plausible solution is the widespread use of filters and a rating system. With technology similar to the V-Chip in the new televisions, that block out certain programs or programs with certain ratings, parents can designate what ratings or sites their children can access. Then the filter will be used to block the unwanted sites. Such filters exist already, but they are too few in number when compared to the thousands of questionable sites created each day. If the government were to apply a little more pressure, however, then filters could be increased dramatically and fully utilized. If legislation were to enforce the availability of filters, servers would not be as lax, in their policies regarding questionable material, as they are now. .

             Government involvement should be minimal; however, the government should enforce the availability of safeguards that parents can choose to utilize. The Internet has united the world but it has also lead to tragedies that have shocked the world. Why wait for another tragedy such as the Colombine shooting before we take action? We need to protect our children from sex, drugs and violence.