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Other districts take a different policy stand. While they also use blocking and filtering that federal law requires, their policy is based on the premise that children need to learn how to be responsible users and that such cannot occur if the young person has no real choice. School personnel who take this stand contend that students need to acquire the skills and dispositions of responsible Internet usage and to be held accountable for their behavior. Moreover, those holding this position contend that restrictive school networks may provide more of an appearance of protection than reality since they can be bypassed by students. Schools with less restrictive environments often distinguish between the restrictiveness appropriate for older and younger students since young children may stumble across sites they ought not visit. 

Policies answer the “what” and “why” questions. Procedures answer the “how,” “who,” and “when” questions.

looked deeper into our policies, we realized that we didn't need anything policy-wise. Why create something that might handcuff the ability of teachers to do their job effectively? We had Standards of Professional Conduct. We had policies on student communication and communication using school-owned devices. We saw these and decided what we needed were some simple best practices. These included things like: Protecting your own privacy Being honest Respecting copyright laws Disclaimers Thinking about consequences

I understand we need to keep kids safe. I think that we would do more good keeping kids safe by teaching them how to use these tools and navigate this online world rather than locking it down and pretending that it is not in our realm.”

Developing Responsible-Use Policies:

best way schools can contribute to safe and appropriate use of the Internet and student owned-mobile devices is to move from the traditional AUP approach to an RUP—a “responsible-use policy” approach.

RUP policy/philosophy that treats the student as a person responsible for ethical and healthy use of the Internet and mobile devices.

requires sophisticated searching and processing skills

many users have not been taught how to make appropriate decisions

we must teach everyone to become responsible digital citizens

Our students need adults to stop being afraid, and stop hiding, so education can get out of the shadows and into the light of the world in which our children live.

were not created to keep students stuck in the past, educated in a disconnected school environment that shares little resemblance to the real world for which we should be preparing our children.

Students can access websites that do not contain or that filter mature content. They can use their real names, pictures, and work (as long it doesn’t have a grade/score from a school) with the notification and/or permission of the student and their parent or guardian.