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Last night was Family Night at my kids' elementary school. You know, that night when you visit your kid's class with the other parents, learn about the curriculum and teacher expectations for the year, sit in little tiny chairs, etc. Each parent was asked to sign the district's Digital Resources Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for the 2008-2009 school year. Not a single parent read over the AUP; everyone just signed it blindly. Except me, of course. I combed through it because, as a former attorney and technology guy, I want to know what I'm signing on behalf of my fifth-grade daughter.

School districts create acceptable-use policies (AUPs) to define what is--and is not--acceptable behavior when using their computer resources. But at a time when computers and internet access are seen as increasingly important tools for instruction, many school leaders are struggling with how best to enforce these policies in the event that students transgress them.

Acceptable Use Policies developed as a result of legislation that attempted to govern how schools allowed students to use the Internet. While legislation usually did not directly call for their formation, it was sort of the implementation of choice for most schools around the country. The policy is basically a signed agreement documenting what's acceptable in using the Internet at school (although as Karl Fisch stated, it is really an unacceptable use policy as most of them are just a list of things that kids cannot do). Parents and students had to sign the AUP before they were granted any Internet privileges at school. In that way, it was sort of like a contract between the school and the student's family.