ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET
Diocese of St. Petersburg Student Internet Use Policy
This document sets forth the rights and responsibilities for students under
the Diocese of St. Petersburg Student Internet Use Policy. This Student
Internet Use Policy is, by reference, a part of the Student Internet Account
Agreement which must be executed by each Student and each Student’s Parent or
Guardian.
A. EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE:
1.The School Internet system has been established for a limited educational
purpose. Educational purposes include classroom activities, continuing
education, professional or career development, and high-quality,
educationally enriching personal research.
2.The School Internet system has not been established as a public access
service or a public forum. The Diocese and school has the right to place
restrictions on the material you access or post through the School Internet
system. You are expected to follow the rules set forth in this policy, the
student disciplinary code, and the law in your use of the School Internet
system. The student disciplinary code will govern any violations of this
policy.
3.You may not use the School Internet system for commercial purposes. This
means you may not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through
the School Internet system.
B. ACCESS TO ONLINE MATERIALS:
1.The material you access through the School Internet system should be for
class assignments or for personal research on subjects you study in a class
or would otherwise research in the school library. Use for entertainment
purposes is not allowed.
2.You are not allowed to use the School Internet system to access
inappropriate information, which includes, but is not limited to, the
following: obscene material, child pornography, material which depicts or
describes in an offensive way violence, nudity, sex, death, or bodily
functions, material designated as for adults only, material which promotes or
advocates illegal activities, material which promotes the use of alcohol or
tobacco, school cheating, or weapons, or material advocating participation in
hate groups or other potentially dangerous groups.
3.If you mistakenly access inappropriate information through the School
Internet system, you are required to immediately report this access in the
manner specified by your school. This will protect you against a claim you
have intentionally violated this policy.
4.The school has installed filtering software to attempt to prevent access to
inappropriate material.
a.If you feel filtering software is blocking your access to an
appropriate site, report this to your teacher.
b.You are not allowed to seek to bypass the filtering software by using
a proxy site or some other technology.
C. PRIVACY AND COMMUNICATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS:
1."Personal contact information" includes your full name, together with other
information which would allow an individual to locate you, including your
family name, your home address or location, your work address or location, or
your phone number.
2.If you are an elementary or middle school student, you are not allowed to
use the School Internet system to disclose your full name or any other
personal contact informa¬tion online for any reason.
3.If you are a high school student, you may disclose, through the School
Internet system, personal contact information to educational institutions,
companies or other entities for continuing education, professional or career
development purposes with specific staff approval.
4.You are not allowed to disclose names, personal contact information, or any
other private or personal contact information about other students. You are
not allowed to forward a message sent to you privately without documented
permission from the person who sent you the message.
5.You are required to promptly disclose to your teacher or other school staff
member any message you receive through the School Internet system which is
inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable. You should not delete such
messages until instructed to do so by a teacher or other staff member.
D. UNLAWFUL, UNAUTHORIZED, AND INAPPROPRIATE USES AND ACTIVITIES:
1.Unlawful activities:
a.You are not allowed to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the
School Internet system or to any other computer system through the School
Internet system or go beyond your authorized access. This prohibition
includes attempting to log-in through another person's account or to access
another person's files.
b.You are not allowed to disrupt or attempt to disrupt the School
Internet system or any other computer system or destroy data by spreading
computer viruses, or by any other means, using the School Internet system.
c.You are not allowed to use the School Internet system to engage in any
unlawful act, including but not limited to arranging the sale or purchase of
drugs or alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, or threatening the
safety of any person.
2.Inappropriate language:
a.Restrictions against inappropriate language apply to all speech
communicated through the School Internet system, including public messages,
private messages, and material posted on Web pages.
b.You are not allowed to use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude,
inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language on the School Internet
system.
c.You are not allowed to post information which could cause damage or a
danger of disruption to your school or any other organization or person on
the School Internet system.
d.You are not allowed to engage in personal attacks, including
prejudicial or discriminatory attacks on the School Internet system.
e.You are not allowed to harass or bully another person on the School
Internet system.
f.You are not allowed to post false or defamatory information about a
person or organization on the School Internet system.
g.You are required to promptly disclose to your teacher or another
school employee any message you receive on the School Internet system in
violation of the restrictions on inappropriate language.
3.Plagiarism and copyright infringement:
a.You are not allowed to plagiarize works you find on the Internet.
Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others, and presenting them as
if they were yours, without proper attribution.
b.You are required to respect the rights of copyright owners in your use
of materials found on, disseminated through, or posted to the Internet.
Copyright infringement occurs when you inappro¬priately reproduce a work that
is protected by a copyright.
4.Specific Activities prohibited:
a.Inappropriate activities subject to discipline under this policy
include but are not limited to:
i.The transmission of material, information or software in violation
of school policy, or local, state and federal law,
ii.Changing of Windows/Mac platform settings (desktop, screensavers,
etc.),
iii.Downloading software or plug-ins into the School Internet system,
iv.The use of web-based email accounts,
v.Online chatting or any instant messaging,
vi.Making purchases via the internet,
vii.The installation of any software on the system by a student.
Software can only be installed by the School, using software purchased by the
School and appropriately licensed by law for use on School computers,
viii.Violating copyright or other laws,
ix.Accessing personal files belonging to others,
x.Accessing areas of the network which are not designated for your
use.
5. Limited Privacy:
a.You are notified by reading and signing this document that you have
only a limited expectation of privacy in your files on the School Internet
system and in the records of your online activity. All student use of the
School Internet system may be supervised and is subject to being closely
monitored at all times. You are notified that the school's monitoring of
Internet usage can reveal all activities you engage in using the School
Internet system.
b.Routine maintenance and random monitoring of the School Internet
system may disclose information indicating you have violated this policy, the
student disciplinary code, or the law. A detailed search of your individual
School Internet system account, and its historical activity, may be conducted
if there is reasonable suspicion you have violated this policy, the student
disciplinary code, or the law.
E. SYSTEM SECURITY AND RESOURCE LIMITS:
1.System security:
a.You are responsible for your School Internet system individual account
and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able
to use your account. You should not provide your password to another person.
b.You are required to immediately notify a teacher or the system
administrator if you have identified a possible security problem involving
the School Internet system. However, you are not required to look for
security problems; this may be construed as an unlawful attempt to gain
access.
c.You are required to avoid the inadvertent spread of computer viruses
by following the school virus protection procedures.
2.Resource limits:
a.You are required to use the School Internet system only for
educational, professional or career development activities and limited, high-
quality personal research.
b.You are not allowed to download large files from or to any computer on
the School Internet system unless absolutely necessary, and then only with
approval of a teacher or another school employee. If necessary, and allowed,
you may download large files when the system is not being heavily used; you
are required to immediately remove the file from the School Internet system
computer as soon as possible after appropriate copying or use.
c.You are not allowed to use Diocesan, school, or personal distribution
lists or discussion groups for sending irrelevant messages.
F. DISCIPLINE
Violations of this Student Internet Use Policy can result in termination of
the student’s account, denial of access to the School Internet system,
suspension, expulsion, or referral of matters to the appropriate law
enforcement agency, depending on the severity of the actions. Such
determination is within the sole discretion of the School and the Diocese.
G. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:
Neither the Diocese nor school guarantees the functions or services provided
through the School Internet system nor will its internet service provider be
without error. The Diocese and/or school will not be responsible for any
damage you may suffer, including but not limited to loss of data,
interruptions of service, or exposure to inappropriate material or people.
The Diocese and/or school will not be responsible for the accuracy or quality
of the information obtained through the School Internet system. The Diocese
and/or school will not be responsible for financial obligations arising
through the unauthorized use of the School Internet system. Your parents can
be held financially responsible for any harm resulting from your use or
misuse of the School Internet system. You may use the School Internet system
only if your parents have signed a disclaimer of claims for damages against
the school and Diocese.
This is the policy set forth by Holy Family Catholic School and the
Diocese of St. Petersburg. It will be strictly adhered to by our Media
Center.
Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.
Mrs. Mary Karbowski
