ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

We are pleased to offer students/employees of the Alsip, Hazelgreen and Oak Lawn School District 126 access to the benefits of the District's computer networking system. The primary purpose of the Acceptable Use Policy is to ensure the integrity and maintenance of the networking system for all students, employees and District 126 staff.

 

The Acceptable Use Policy provides a definition of terms as well as policy guidelines that are required for student/employee access to the network. District 126 students/employees who adhere to the outlined policies and procedures will benefit from a wealth of educational
information and communication available through network resources. These resources are made available and are intended to be used by students/employees exclusively for instructional, academic and education-related purposes.

 

Please read all the enclosed information carefully. If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact your school principal. Each District 126 student/employee must sign the Acceptable Use Agreement and return the signed portion to their school office before they will be granted network access.

 

 

The School District's wide-area network and local-area networks were established to allow students and teachers access to communication and information resources to support their learning and/or teaching. The term network, as used in this document, refers to the computers and other electronic tools, which are connected to each other for the purpose of communication and data sharing in support of educational goals.

 

The Internet allows people to interact with hundreds of thousands of networks around the country and world. Access to the Internet is a means of exchanging electronic mail with others, and a way to search for a vast array of resources, information and programs that are made available through the Internet. This educational opportunity requires a high level of responsibility. Proper use of the Internet is the joint responsibility of students,parents and employees of School District 126.

 

By allowing people from all around the world access to computers, obscene, abusive, or otherwise offensive language may appear, as well as sexually explicit, racially biased, or otherwise offensive material not appropriate in a school setting. To ensure that there is no questionable material on a single system, schools would need to have either no links to other systems (eliminating Internet access), or be certain that everyone in the schoolcommits to keep questionable materials out of the school. While the District cannot police or screen all information to which children could have access on the network, it is the District's intention that with proper use, the network will become an added resource or extension to the schools, libraries and media centers. School District 126 has taken precautions to restrict access to controversial materials through the use of electronic filters; however, on a global network, it is impossible to control all materials. It is possible for students/employees to intentionally seek out, or even accidentally come across controversial material. It may also be possible for students/employees to purchase goods and services via the Internet, and these purchases could result in unwanted financial obligations. We believe that the valuable information and interaction available on this worldwide network far outweigh the possibility that users may obtain material which is not consistent with the educational goals for the District. Users are expected to use appropriate judgement in selecting and viewing Internet sites.

 

Our network consists of a variety of computers, software, and network connections.  Each District computer with Internet access has a filtering device that blocks entry to written content and visual decictions that are: (1) obscene, (2) pornographic, or (3) harmful or inappropriate for students, as defined by the Children's Internet Protection Act and as determined by the Superintendent of designee. This section describes the primary tools and services offered on the network.

 

   1. Electronic Mail or E-mail
      E-mail is similar to regular mail, however instead of using paper to document a message, a computer is used. E-mail correspondence can occur between two people, or a group of people.

   2. World Wide Web
    There is a wide and growing variety of interconnected information and databases on the Internet, often called the World Wide Web. Software called "web browsers" are used to contact web information servers. District 126 will be using a web browser program called Internet Explorer to access these resources.   

  

 

Any individual who has been granted an identification number on the system is considered a member of the network community. It is important to be aware of the different kinds of people who might be part of the larger electronic community. A network user needs to think about these different kinds of people when posting messages and/or sending e-mail.

D. Privileges of Network Members

 

Students/employees on the network have certain privileges. Any person who does not respect the privileges of others may lose his/her network privileges, and may be subject to additional disciplinary actions pursuant to the District's disciplinary policy. These privileges include:

 

      1. Electronic communications and work.
         It is important that users recognize the fundamental differences between public forms of communication, such as posting to a news group, and private forms of communication, like e-mail, and shape their content accordingly. However, if any user is believed to be in violation of the guidelines stated in this policy, a system administrator may need to gain access to private correspondence or files. There are also times when the system administrator may need to access private files as part of regular system maintenance. In order to ensure smooth systems operations, District 126 administration reserves the right to view any and all electronic communications at any time. However, the network administrator will make every effort to notify a staff member if their files have been accessed. It is the goal of the District to maintain a high degree of privacy and security in this process.

 

     2. Access to network services.
         All students/employees on the network will be granted access to as many network services as appropriate for their educational  needs and goals as reasonably regulated or determined by school staff. Exploration of the Internet is encouraged relative to the purpose of the school's network; however, no single user should monopolize a computer or the network it uses.

 

      3. Safety from harassment.
         To the greatest extent possible, using both electronic and current District 126 harassment policy procedures, members of the network will be protected from harassment and unwanted or unsolicited contact. Any member who receives a threatening or unwelcome communication is obligated to bring it to the attention of the teacher, school principal or the network administrator. Users must be aware that there are services available on the Internet, which might be offensive to certain groups of users. The administrators of this network cannot eliminate access to all such services, nor can they identify all of them. Individual users are responsible for their own actions in navigating the network. School District 126 will try to monitor and supervise access to inappropriate Internet sites as it would any other inappropriate behavior in school.

 

    The privileges of membership in the network come with certain responsibilities. Users need to familiarize themselves with these responsibilities. Failure to adhere to procedures listed below may result in the loss of network privileges, and may subject the user to additional disciplinary actions pursuant to the District's discipline policy.

     1. Never share your password, account number, telephone number, or street address with anyone on the network.
         You have full responsibility for the use of your account number. You will be held responsible for any violations of this policy, which can be traced to your account number.

      2. Obey the rules of copyright.
         Network members must respect all copyright issues regarding software, information, and attributes of authorship. Commercial software may not be installed on the system without the express permission of the system administrator.

      3. Do not post personal communications in a public forum without the original authors prior consent.
         To do this is a violation of the author's privacy. However, all messages posted in a public forum such as news groups, or aliases e-mail may be copied in subsequent communications so long as proper attribution is given.

      4. Use of the network for any illegal activities is prohibited.
          Illegal activities include but are not limited to, tampering with computer hardware or software, unauthorized entry into computers and vandalizing or destroying computer files. In some cases, such activity is considered a crime under state and federal law.

      5. Avoid the knowing or inadvertent spread of computer viruses.
          "Computer viruses" are programs which have been developed as pranks, and can destroy valuable programs and data. Students of District 126 cannot bring diskettes from home and use them on the school system. Deliberate attempts to degrade or disrupt system performance of the local school network or any other computer system or network on the Internet by spreading computer viruses is prohibited.

      6. Use appropriate language.
          Profanity or obscenities will not be tolerated on the school network. All students/employees should use language appropriate for school situations.

      7. Avoid offensive or inflammatory speech.
          Internet members must respect the privileges of others both in the local community and in the Internet at large. Personal attacks are an unacceptable use of the network. If you are a victim, bring the incident to the attention of the teacher, building principal or network administrator.

      8. Impersonations, anonymity, or pseudonyms are not permitted.
         As an educational network, we believe that individuals must take responsibility for their actions and words.

      9. Internet usage is for educational related research and exploration.
         "Surfing the web" for websites unrelated to any projects or subjects the teacher or student is researching, e.g. graphic, sexually oriented material, is improper and is prohibited.