Updating Those Acceptable Use Policies

Jessica King

Chaplin, H. (2012, April 6). Welcoming mobile: More districts are rewriting acceptable use policies, embracing smartphone and social media in schools. Spotlight On. Retrieved from http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/welcoming-mobile-rewriting-acceptable-use-smartphones-and-social-media/

            Chaplin supplies a thorough examination of the initial thoughts and fears surrounding the Web, the growing use of the Internet, the impact CIPA had (and is still having), and how that has shaped current views of Internet use in schools. She acknowledges that perceptions of the immediate dangers the web poses are changing but caution should still be used. These changing views and the increasing usage of technology in and out of school needs to be addressed in updated Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs). To emphasize her points she pulls from multiple examples of how schools are bringing technology and the Web into the their daily teaching activities.  

            Many schools are now allowing increased amount of Internet use in their schools but they will not be prepared for challenges that may arise because their AUP is outdated. The AUP is not just there for schools to use in case upset parents approach about their child coming across something ‘inappropriate.’ Chaplin (2012) asserts, “schools ought to be providing safe environments for students to learn how to be responsible digital citizens.” This is absolutely true, the filters mandated by CIPA were not meant to keep students from everything the Internet has to offer forever and part of the mandate was that the schools teach students digital citizenship skills. The AUP needs to reflect this dedication to students learning these skills and understanding their responsibility when it comes to using this tool.