Heaven forbid that teenagers in this day and age should be exposed to information regarding healthy sex and birth control information! [sigh] this kind of wrong-headed thinking doesn't prevent a single teen from partaking, but it might block access to information they need to at least be careful in what they're doing.

S.D. Pulls Plug on Part of Library Site

July 13, 2004 02:47 PM EDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The governor shut down the teen section of the South Dakota State Library's Web site, saying it included links to material he doesn't believe young people should see. Gov. Mike Rounds' move to shut down the entire teen section Monday followed a decision last week by the State Library Board to remove a link to a Planned Parenthood Web site. While the state board rejected a request to remove the link in April, it reversed itself Friday at the urging of the governor. Rounds opposes abortion; Planned Parenthood lobbies to keep abortion legal.

"As a parent, I would be very disturbed to have my children connecting to any of these Web sites that are found through the state Web site at this time," the Republican governor said Monday afternoon as links on the library's Teen Center page began disappearing. Rounds said he will assemble a committee to review the links and see if any can be restored.

In Rapid City, the state's second largest city, about 20 teens rallied at their city's public library Monday, protesting the Planned Parenthood decision. "It seems as though our governor is censoring one particular group without really regards to the content," said one protester, Loy Maierhauser. "It's kind of like pulling a book off the library shelf just because of the author."

However, Rounds said the removal of the Web links does not amount to censorship because Internet users still can go directly to those organizations' sites. State government sites should not feature links to advocacy groups that are politically active, he said. A quick scan of the Teen Center site before the plug was pulled revealed mostly links to information about popular culture. Some general categories, included "Words to Chill By," "Homework," "Life After High School," "That's Life" and "Teen 'Zines."

One link was to Columbia University's Go Ask Alice!, which provided answers to health concerns and some explicit sexual questions. Another was to It's Your (Sex) Life, which includes information on pregnancy, birth control and sexually transmitted diseases. Rounds said he made a judgment call, and that's one reason he was elected.