GHAEA-TLC

The law requires any school district that receives E-Rate funding to filter or block visual depictions that are obscene, that contain child pornography, or material harmful to minors. Schools are required to enforce the operation of such technology protection measures (i.e., keep the filter operating) during any use of such computers by minors. The law also requires districts to have in place a policy of Internet safety that includes the use of a filter or blocking procedure for district computers used by minors.

Section 215 is most relevant to schools and requires them, as part of their Internet safety policy, to educate minors about appropriate online behavior. This includes how to interact with others on social networking websites and in chat rooms as well as cyberbullying awareness and response.

Policies on cell phone usage vary from districts that forbid students from bringing them into the school building (such as the Student/Parent Handbook in the New Haven’s  Connecticut schools), to schools that provide for limited use, to schools which are making use of them for instructional purposes