Code - Implication for Schools

Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace
by Lawrence Lessig
A review
by Holly Gunn

Implications for the Schools

The idea of code is not an alien concept to many students. There are codes of behavior they are expected to follow. Students are expected to follow a conduct of behavior in schools, and some schools try to enforce dress codes. Students are always concerned about the adult controls that govern their lives in real space and cyberspace, and they learn to live within the confines of many codes. Some students are more successful than others at adjusting to code, but code that governs their lives is everywhere.

The use of computers in schools is governed by codes of behavior. This code has been formalized in Acceptable Use Policies in schools which have restricted some of the cyberspace spaces from school use. In order to remain an Internet user at school, students are to follow the rules of the Acceptable Use Policy. These policies rely on the education and cooperation of the user. Acceptable use policies usually contain statements, such as "The computers in schools are to support the curriculum outcomes of the Board." It is the type of code that Lessig would call East Coast Code. This type of code governs behavior. Other school jurisdictions have imposed an architecture of control using filtering software that evaluates and blocks access to much content on the Net. Even if filtering software is not used, schools networks have been constructed with code that controls access to certain areas of the network.

The code and architecture of the Internet has many implications for students and teachers. The architecture and code of the Internet, as it now exists, have empowered students. Because of the dominance of closed code software and the expense of this proprietary software, students have used the freedom of the current architecture of the Net, and applications such as Napster and Gnutella to obtain what they believe is "fair use" of games, movies and software they could not otherwise afford to use.

Code, both the East Coast variety and the West Coast variety, are of critical importance to all computer users. All students need to became aware the architecture of the Internet is not one of privacy. Some students are more aware of code developed by computer code writers than others. Many secondary school students have mastered HTML code, and know that an error in code leads to malfunction in their Web site. Students at the secondary level need to be educated about the importance code plays in their lives. The further implications of how code enables or limits their freedom on the Net should be a topic added to the computer studies courses in the high schools. As Lessig says, and many students already understand, "Code is law." (Lessig. Code and other laws...1999. p. 3.)