Chapter+7


 * __Chapter 7 – Online Safety and Security __**

__Legal Requirements __

Schools are required by particular laws to monitor and regulate internet access and interaction. Some important laws to know regarding students, schools, and technology are:

 __CIPA:__ The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Schools are required to use filtering and blocking technology on “every Internet-connected computer” (138). Districts are also required by this to conduct a public meeting to discuss their policies.

 __EETT:__ Enhancing Education Through Technology. (http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/oet/e2t2/index.html)

 __COPPA:__ the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. (http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm)

__Copyright and Intellectual Property __

“Copyright law is confusing” (139).

 __Fair Use doctrine__ (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html). Fair Use does not mean that students have the right to simply use someone else’s work without attribution (and in some cases, even with attribution).

__Hall Davidson’s Five Steps to Avoiding Copyright Problems: __ 1 Create and implement a technology policy that includes a code of ethics and set of procedures.  2 Review the entire policy with your educational community: students, teachers, and parents.  3 Appoint a technology manager to conduct audits and maintain a log of licenses and registration materials.  4 Teach ethical and legal behavior for technology use.  5 Thank employees and students for suppporting these steps. (139)

 __Creative Commons__ (www.creativecommons.org): a system built within current copyright law that allows people to mark their creations with a Creative Commons license (139). Liscenses from creative commons fall between full copyright and public domain; a spectrum of copyright status.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Security Solutions __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The important thing for schools to keep in mind is that we don’t live in an ideal world, and therefore we can’t realistically stop every problem that is brought in front of us. We can, however, act proactively rather than reactively (140), meaning that the best thing for schools to do is not take any chances when it comes to Internet security.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> One of the greatest concerns that schools face when it comes to the internet and their students is commercial and pay sites (140). These sites are businesses, and are not looking out for the safety of students. Because of this, it is no surprise why administrators find them questionable.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Administrator concerns: __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">61% – Pornography <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 58% – Adult predators <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 59 % – Useless/ irrelevant results form search engines (140)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This is obviously a big problem. There are ways to combat this, however, and administrators have used them (indicated by percentage): <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 100 % – Installing Filters <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 90 % – Giving faculty instructions on safety <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 90 % – Giving students instructions on safety <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 66% – Providing parents with tips and information <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 35% – Purchasing special search engines (141)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Schools must also make students aware of the dangers they might face online, for they are unaware most of the time (141). One way of instructing students is to have them collaborate on a wiki, as Vicki Davis had her students do (http://westwood.wikispaces.com/Chapter+1+-+security+and+Privacy).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “Most schools have acceptable use policies” which “outline guidelines, procedures, and responsibilities for using school technology” (144). Such policies make clear for students what is and is not acceptable. Searching for things such as pornography, for example, is definitely unacceptable; but, though schools install filters to block this sort of material, students sometimes disable these filters manually (151). This shows that students must be taught what is appropriate and what is not. Policies can work to clarify what is acceptable.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Students must be taught that availability does not equal permission. Students don’t usually have criminal intentions when they download a song of video, but they must learn that doing these things is stealing (145).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Parental involvement is very important for students’ learning about internet safety. One barrier to this, however, is that [71% of] parents often believe that it is the school’s sole responsibility to teach students about internet safety issues (150).

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Steps which parents have, and still could, take to ensure their children’s online safety: __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Talking to them about how to use the Internet (88%) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Monitering online activities (82%) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Confining home internet use to the living room or other open spaces (75%) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Setting time limits on their internet usage (74%) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Installing software to limit or block their children’s online activities (55%) (150)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Keeping children safe on the Internet is everyone’s job (http://kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/)

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Knotty Problems __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Students sometimes do things that are difficult for schools to control. A 13-year old girl, for example, could create a MySpace profile which says that she’s-19 years old; there’s nothing to prevent a 40-year old sexual predator from signing up as a 21-year old (154). This is a major issue, one with which we cannot always rely on Dateline to intervene:

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