Blog #2

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a set of rules that restricts the way the network can be used. The network users are required to follow the rules. By having an AUP, network users at schools or companies are clear on what can and cannot be allowed with the network's use. By following the rules, users avoid damaging the hardware by means of crashing a system or introducing viruses.

I found my high school's AUP (Hockaday): http://www.hockaday.org/ftpimages/90/download/download_group1082_id241651.pdf

Hockaday had extremely strict rules regarding the rules and regulations of Internet on campus. For one, almost all entertaining websites were blocked during school hours. Even AOL and Gmail were blocked during the day! The following is an excerpt of my high school's AUP:

By using Hockaday-provided Internet and e-mail access, students knowingly and voluntarily consent to such usage being monitored.  Hockaday may conduct monitoring on a periodic basis in order to assure compliance with Hockaday policies and/or to investigate conduct or behavior that may be illegal or adversely affect members of the Hockaday community or the School itself.  The results of monitoring activities and information obtained through them will be disclosed only to appropriate levels of Hockaday Administration.  If a student is discovered to be accessing or publishing objectionable material, the student’s parents will be notified. 

I remember a sophomore girl last year left school after Hockaday found e-mails of her telling her friends she wanted to commit suicide. 

The CIPA is a law passed by Congress that ensures schools or libraries that receive funds for Internet access or internal connections from the E-rate program follow certain types of requirements. For one, they may not receive discounts offered by the E-rate program unless they have Internet safety policies that filter Internet access to photos that are obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors. Schools and libraries must also certify that they are educating minors properly about online behavior. Schools are required to enforce a policy to monitor online activities of minors. 

I used my school's networks very often in high school. We had an emailing system called First Class (which I much prefer than Tiger's Lair!) We had our files on a shared server and we also saved them on a our personal computers so we had all of our files saved in two places. This was especially helpful when my computer crashed my senior year and I was able to retrieve most of my files. 

My parents did not have access to practically anything. Although they could log into Hockaday's personal website with the username "parents," they did not have access to my email or my personal computer. I really appreciated that our school made such a distinction between parents and students. In this regard, they treated us as adults. My parents received my grades through the old-fashioned mailing system and were updated on our school's news through email. 

Looking back at my years in high school, I feel pretty awful about all of the times my classmates and I tried to bypass the Internet filters set up by our school. When a classmate found a proxy, word got around quickly. However, the computer department at our high school could also track our Internet use so the proxys were usually blocked within a few days. As a teacher, I would be upset if my students were using these methods to go on blocked websites during school hours. The filters are there for a reason! Not to mention, students at my school pay thousands of dollars for an education, not for Facebook or PerezHilton. Although I never went on these websites during class, I did check my email and surf the web. Looking back, I wish I had paid more attention to the teacher rather than what was on my computer screen.