Computer networks have been established for the enrichment of learning in the school. They provide students with the opportunity to prepare for the technological world in which we live. In addition to the vast educational resource base that may be accessed online, there exists material which may be pornographic, racist, or in other ways offensive.

This policy will address acceptable standards of use for students, and the responsibilities of the Board, school, and individual teacher to prevent the misuse of these systems.

Please note that while this policy may seem extreme at first, it is really only extending to the computer the norms that already exist in the classroom.

Guidelines

Board and School responsibility:

The school has the right, but not the obligation, to monitor and supervise all computer use, communication, or system accounts. The network administrators will have the following authorities to be exercised in conjunction with the school principal:

• grant or revoke user accounts (which allow access to the computer network)
  
• provide teacher supervision of students using network.
  
• select and allow use of specific computer applications
  
• monitor which Internet sites are being accessed
  
• monitor all outgoing electronic information (i.e. e-mail).

Student Responsibility:

The use of computers and networking is advantageous to the student, yet remains a privilege rather than a requirement. Therefore students are required to adhere to the following guidelines to maintain this privilege:
Computers are to be used for educational purposes only; World Wide Web searching and browsing shall be limited to appropriate sites. Further to this point:

• Students shall not access nor attempt to access sites that contain information that is pornographic, racist or vulgar. If students accidentally access prohibited sites they shall immediately notify their teacher or Network Administrator.
  
• language in e-mail is to be of the same standard as other forms of communication. Therefore use of profane, harassing, or otherwise inappropriate language is forbidden.
  
• harassment of other users in any way is forbidden.
  
• Users will routinely remove unwanted files from their Personal folder (P:drive) and always keep personal folders under a 10 megabyte maximum allowance.
  
• use of anonymous email sites or any other method of disguising the source of the electronic communication is forbidden
  
• downloading of executable (program) files is prohibited
  
• use of "hot mail" or any other web-based mail service is prohibited
  
• participation in "chain letters" is a criminal offence and therefore strictly prohibited
  
• use of Internet chat sites is prohibited. This includes ICQ.
  
• running computer programs that are not prescribed by I J Samson is prohibited
  
• use of online games is prohibited
  
• copyright laws are strictly followed by schools; accessing or storage of copyrighted software or information for which school does not have license is forbidden
  
• printing text and/or images from the internet is absolutely forbidden.
  
• computers are expensive and fragile pieces of equipment. Extreme care should be taken so as not to damage them
  
• students will refrain from downloading audio files eg. mp3’s and/or video files unless authorized to do so by a teacher
  
• students are responsible for their own accounts. System security relies on maintaining the secrecy of user’s passwords; if a user’s password is known to anyone else, that person should inform the Network Administrator and change his/her current password.
  
• use of accounts by anyone other than registered account owner is prohibited. If an account is being used by someone other than registered user, both the unauthorized user and registered owner will have their computer privileges suspended.
  
• students shall ensure that their accounts are used for lawful purposes only, and no material is transmitted which is prohibited, inappropriate, or infringes on rights of privacy
  
• further to the above guideline, students should not post information that would reveal their name, email address, home address or telephone number
  
• users must refrain from changing desktop settings (i.e. wallpaper)
  
• users should ensure they are logged off before leaving a computer
  
• accessing or attempting to access any computer, network, or resource for which the student does not have authorization is strictly prohibited and will lead to immediate and permanent revocation of computer privileges. This includes local (C:) drives.
  
• The penalty for contravention of any or all of these guidelines will range from revocation of any/all computer privileges, and/or other disciplinary action including expulsion and/or criminal prosecution.