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Acceptable Internet Use (Board Policy - IFBG-R)

The purpose of computer and telecommunications technology in our schools is to support research, education, and the use of technology as a tool for life-long learning. The use of computers and the Internet shall be guided by the curriculum and the objectives of the Tift County Board of Education (TCBE), as well as the instructional needs of the school community. Use of any other network accessed through the TCBE connection must comply with this acceptable use policy.

The State of Georgia and the United States have promulgated laws governing the use of computers and related technology. The Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act states that “Whoever intentionally and without authorization, directly or indirectly accesses, alters, damages, destroys, or attempts to destroy any computer, computer system, or computer network, or any computer software, program or data shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $50,000.00 or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.” The U.S. copyright laws govern the duplication of computer programs. By signing the Tift County Computer/ Internet Access Agreement and using the computer resources of Tift County School System, the user agrees to abide by the referenced Georgia law, any and all other relevant laws of the United States and the State of Georgia, and the following guidelines and regulations regarding the use of computers and the Internet developed by the Tift County Board of Education.

Program Development

The Internet is a worldwide network of computer networks to which several million individual computers are connected. It is the largest scientific, research, and academic network in the world. A wide variety of organizations participate in the Internet, including government agencies and departments, colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, commercial institutions, and K-12 schools. The Internet allows for global communications between individuals and/or groups, resource sharing, and information.

In order to match electronic resources as closely as possible to the approved system curriculum, classroom teachers will review and evaluate Internet resources in order to offer “bookmarks” and menus of materials that comply with Board guidelines. In this manner, staff will provide developmentally appropriate guidance 31 to students as they make use of telecommunications and electronic information resources to conduct research and other studies related to the system curriculum. All students will be informed by staff of their rights and responsibilities as users of the system network prior to gaining access to that network, either as an individual user or as a member of a class or group.

As much as possible, access to system information resources will be designed in ways that point students to those resources that have been reviewed and evaluated prior to use. While students may be able to move beyond those resources to others that have not been evaluated by staff, students shall be provided with guidelines and lists of resources particularly suited to the learning objectives. Students may pursue electronic research independent of staff supervision at school only if they have been granted parental permission and have submitted all required forms. Permission is not transferable and may not be shared.

Terms and Conditions

Acceptable Use

Access to the Internet is provided for educational purposes and research consistent with the Tift County Board of Education’s educational mission and goals. Use of the school system’s computers and access to the Internet are for use related to class work including unique resources not available in the local setting. The computing resources of the Tift County Board of Education shall be fully accessible for instructional use only during normal school hours.

All users (staff members as well as students and their parents/guardians) shall be required to sign the appropriate Computer/Internet Access Agreement form allowing access to the Internet. By signing these agreements, all users shall affirm that they have read and understand the administrative procedures on Acceptable Use of Computer/Internet Resources and understand the consequences for the violation of said administrative procedures. Failure to comply with these administrative procedures shall be deemed grounds for revocation of privileges, potential disciplinary and/or appropriate legal action.

Privileges

The use of the Tift County Board of Education’s equipment for computing and for access to the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and as such is conditional upon the individual’s compliance with any and all Georgia and federal laws, school regulations, and the exercise of good manners. Inappropriate use may result in the cancellation of those privileges, and conduct otherwise in violation of Tift County Board of Education policies or regulations may also result in disciplinary proceedings. The Superintendent, or designee(s), shall make all decisions regarding whether or not a user has violated these procedures and may deny, revoke, or suspend access at any time.

Etiquette

All users are responsible for their behavior while using school computing resources. All general school rules regarding conduct, behavior, and communications apply to the use of the school computing resources, including but not limited to those rules contained in the Tift County Board of Education’s handbooks. 32 Users must be reminded to refrain from mistaking the apparent anonymity of the Internet as a license to behave in a manner not otherwise appropriate. Because all TCBE computer accounts are identified by their TCBE addresses, every transmission involving a TCBE account reflects upon the entire school system. Therefore, access to TCBE computing resources will be provided only to those users who agree and continue to act in a considerate and responsible manner. All users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette, most of which are listed below.

  1. Users shall be polite and considerate of others.
  2. Users shall use appropriate language at all times. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.
  3. Users are encouraged to use their best grammar and spelling at all times, so that their ideas may be evaluated on their content rather than on the manner of their presentations, but be forgiving of the errors of others.
  4. Users shall use printing resources wisely.
  5. Users shall use computers in a timely manner, so that all users may have an opportunity to utilize computing resources.
  6. Users are encouraged to tell the system operator whenever they find a particularly interesting site on the Internet.
  7. Users shall never reveal their personal addresses, e-mail addresses, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, or any personal information, or those of any other students or colleagues.

Unacceptable Use

As stated previously, the purpose of the TCBE computer/Internet resources is to support research and education. Unacceptable use of these resources is prohibited. Examples of prohibited conduct include but are not limited to the following:

  1. Neither students nor employees shall use TCBE computers, other equipment, or Internet access:
    1. for commercial business or profit, or for solicitations or purchases of any kind.
    2. to play games except those included in educational activities.
    3. to access, send or post materials or communications that are:
      1. damaging to another’s reputation,
      2. abusive,
      3. obscene,
      4. sexually oriented,
      5. threatening,
      6. contrary to the system’s policy on harassment,
      7. harassing,
      8. illegal, or
      9. advocating illegal acts, violence, or discrimination towards other people (hate literature).
  2. Neither students nor employees shall:
    1. use personal software in TCBE computers without prior approval of system operator.
    2. deliberately access, remove, or copy any program or file on a network belonging to someone else without specific authorization from system operator.
    3. add programs to the TCBE computer system, delete programs, copy programs or tamper with existing programs in any way. (Including, but not limited to, downloadable freeware applications available on the Internet.)
    4. use any TCBE computer or computer network in such a way that causes it to stop performing or disrupts the use of the network by others.
    5. disguise or hide their identity, including changing their name on the system. Only the system operator may change a user name and account.
    6. forge electronic messages or post anonymous messages.
    7. create “home pages” or directories without approval by the system operator.
    8. use TCBE computing resources to advertise any product.
    9. use TCBE computing resources to attempt to gain unauthorized access to any TCBE network or other global network that goes beyond the user’s authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another person’s account or accessing another person’s files.
    10. use the network while access privileges are suspended or revoked.
    11. use the network in a fashion inconsistent with directions from teachers and other staff and generally accepted network etiquette.
  3. Under absolutely no circumstance shall students or staff arrange to meet an individual they have contacted while utilizing the TCBE computing resources, and users should notify their teachers and/or the system operator immediately upon any attempt by any user to arrange to meet them, or upon a contact from any user for an illicit or suspicious purpose. Students should also notify their parent or guardian if any of the above should happen.
  4. The fact that something is not protected does not mean that you have the right to access it. This includes information and system actions. Most actions and information accesses that are not allowed are prevented by mechanisms built into the systems. However, computer systems are complex and errors may keep the systems from preventing prohibited access. Such access is STILL PROHIBITED. That the system did not prevent your misbehavior is not an excuse for misbehavior. Effort on your part directed toward bypassing a preventive mechanism is an extremely serious offense.

Any user mistakenly accessing inappropriate information should immediately report the error or site to a teacher or system operator. Such action may protect the user against a claim that the user has intentionally violated these administrative procedures.

System operators and administrators shall have the discretion to suspend or terminate any student or employee’s access to and use of the TCBE computing 34 system upon the breach of these administrative procedures by the user. In the event there is a claim that a user has violated these procedures the user will receive a written notice of the suspected violation and an opportunity to present an explanation before a system administrator. If the violation also involves a violation of other school or system regulations, it will be handled according to system guidelines. Any grievance following such incidents will be handled in accordance with system guidelines.

Services

All accounts authorized through the Tift County Board of Education will be granted for up to one academic year at a time. Upon completion of the Computer/Internet Access Agreement, individual users will be officially registered through the school’s network administrator.

Students may obtain individual accounts at the request of their teacher with the written approval of their parent/guardian through the Student Computer/Internet Access Agreement. Students and parents indicate their willingness to comply with this agreement by signing the Student Code of Conduct each year. These signed pages are maintained by the office at each individual school.

Staff members may obtain an Individual School Internet Account through the Tift County School System by completing the Staff Computer/Internet Access Agreement. Students should never be allowed access to a computer when a staff member is logged on under his/her individual account. All staff members must log off the network when they will not be using or supervising their account and must shut down their computer at the end of the day following proper procedures. The Technology Director will keep the signed agreements on file. Once a signed agreement is on file, the individual accounts for these staff members will be created.

Privacy

All users should understand there is no guarantee or reasonable expectation of privacy in electronic mail or in the contents of your personal files on the TCBE computer system. Users should understand that any recipient of an e-mail can forward the message to any other user. Additionally, system operators have access to all electronic messages, and may in the course of maintaining the system be required to exercise this access. Any messages relating to or in support of illegal activities should be reported to the authorities and may result in the loss of TCBE computing resource user privileges as well as civil or criminal liability.

The following guidelines for privacy must be followed:

  1. Under no circumstances shall any student give out or post their full name, home address, phone number or other personal information while using TCBE computing resources.
  2. No student or employee shall give out or post personal or private information of this kind regarding any other person.
  3. No student or employee shall give out their passwords to anyone other than the system operator, nor shall any student or employee use the account or password of any other TCBE account holder.
  4. No student or employee shall re-post a message that was sent to him/her without permission of the person sending the message.

Security

Security of any computer system is always a high priority. The Tift County Board of Education abides by all federal copyright guidelines, laws and licensing agreements governing the use of software. All users of TCBE computing resources are expected to abide by all federal copyright guidelines, laws and licensing agreements, including laws and guidelines regarding the duplication of computer programs. Information regarding any security problem or infringement of copyright law should be reported to the system operator immediately, and should not be demonstrated to other users.

No user shall deliberately view, remove or copy the files of another user or the file or software of the Tift County Board of Education without specific, written authorization to do so. The ability to access a file or program shall not be interpreted as permission to access a file or program. Any effort by a user to bypass a preventative security mechanism, including violating, “borrowing,” or changing a password, will be considered an inappropriate use of a computing resource, and may lead to revocation of user privileges as well as additional disciplinary or criminal penalties. No user shall make any malicious attempt to harm, modify, or destroy the data, materials, equipment or software of another user or of the Tift County Board of Education. Such conduct includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creating of any computer virus. The system operator must review any software not provided by the Tift County Board of Education before it can be used in any school computer.

Vandalism will result in immediate cancellation of privileges as well as additional disciplinary action when appropriate. The user and/or the user’s parent/guardian will be responsible for compensating the school system for any losses, costs, or damages incurred by the school system relating to or arising out of any malicious violation of these procedures.

Limitations of Liability

The Tift County Board of Education makes no warranties of any kind, either express or implied, for the computing resources it provides. All users must assume responsibility for their own actions, since access is possible to the massive, unpredictable contents of the world-wide computer network. The Tift County Board of Education will not be responsible for any damages suffered while using the services, including but not limited to, loss of data, delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, service interruptions, technology-related physical problems, or exposure to offensive or threatening materials. Computer users are encouraged to maintain back-up files of all information that is not easily replaced.

The Tift County Board of Education specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy of information obtained through these services. Use of any information obtained through the Internet is undertaken at the sole risk of the user, as the Internet has not been verified for accuracy. The Tift County Board of Education denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its computing resources.