SuperForest

(image via flickr user madddy. Cheers, maddles!)

If you’ve ever tried to log onto SuperForest from a public library or school, or your office, you might have been surprised to find that you cannot, as SuperForest has been blocked by Websense. In the category “sex.”

(Two things I must say: I have no problem with Websense or the work that they do. Nor do I mind the fact that we’ve been blocked as long as we can get the block removed. And, seeing SuperForest blocked under “sex” made me laugh every single time I saw it. So, in advance, thank you to Websense for the chuckles.)

I resolved to sort it out with a polite letter:

“Dear Websense,

Hello. My name is Jackson Nash and I am the founder of the collaborative positivity blog SuperForest.org.

SuperForest is an online catalogue of positive thoughts and communication, and is totally family friendly. We take great care in ensuring that our content is not only positive and uplifting, but wholesome and good for all age ranges. We make sure to caution our readers when there is going to be profanity, or anything that may potentially cause upset.

To my dismay, SuperForest has been blocked by Websense for containing “sex.”

The answer to this is quite simple, a search of SuperForest for the word sex returns many responses, and the culprit is always the same: We use the word “sexy” in our posts.

We like to promote environmentalism by saying that certain things are sexy. Renewable energy to us is sexy, as is upcycling, backyard gardens, equal rights, justice, reggae, beaches, and many other wonderful things. Sexy is a pretty common word in our daily lives, on television, radio, and billboards, and we feel that its inclusion in our vernacular is acceptable.

I do teaching work with fourth and fifth graders at P.S. 58 in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve been teaching them to blog as well, and because of the restriction we cannot access SuperForest while I’m in the classroom, . This makes it hard to show the kids the posts I’ve written about them and their work: http://teamsuperforest.org/superforest/?s=4fives

Being able to access SuperForest from schools and libraries is crucial to our growth and impact. I humbly ask that you visit SuperForest (www.superforest.org), see for yourselves that all is acceptable, and please add us to the “okay” list.

Thank you very much for your time, and the wonderful work you do. I very much appreciate the need to help keep kids shielded from the full intensity of the internet until they’ve had more time to develop emotionally, and I applaud your efforts.

Yours truly,

Jackson Nash
SuperForest.org”

So, that just got sent and we’ll see how it goes. Fingers crossed.
Yay, internet!