Acceptable Use Policies

My school, St. Francis Xavier School (SFX), in LaGrange, IL, has an Acceptable Use Policy for students and parents as well as one for teachers and staff. These policies align with the regulations set forth by the Office of Catholic Schools within the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Copies of these policies can be viewed here:

 Parent & Student Acceptable Use Policy

 Teacher & Staff Acceptable Use Policy

Upon re-reading through both of these policies, (yes, I did read through the faculty one when asked to sign it!) I found both of them to be comprehensive and clear. The opening statement on the student/parent version explains that the purpose of technology at my school is to promote “resource sharing, innovation, and communication with the support and supervision of parents, teachers, and support staff.” It goes on to further state that these technology resources are a privilege and not a right. That opening clearly summaries and expresses my school’s goal with using technology. These resources are intended to enhance learning, and it is necessary to have adult supervision in order to ensure that students are using the resources appropriately and gathering reliable information. Furthermore, I believe it is important to explain that the use of these resources is definitely an advantage to learning. I think students especially need to understand that using them is like a special treat, and they should not think that it is a must for them to be using technology in order for them to learn and do their work. I am not referring to assistive technologies here, but I believe it is important to make the students feel grateful that they are able to use these resources so that they use them appropriately.

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I also like that the student/parent policy expresses that the advantages of using technology outweigh the possibility of students coming across information that may not be in line with the school’s goals. I have had students in the past conduct research on Greek gods or Catholic saints where some of them have come across information that may not be appropriate for school. Some sources that talk about the Greek gods mention too many love scandals, while some of the saint research involves describing gruesome details about their deaths. While I want my students to research and learn more about topics, I get nervous sometimes when they come across some of this information. I think, “Will a parent contact me?” Nevertheless, with this statement being in the policy, I feel better since we can’t hide all information on the Internet from students.  We need to give them freedom, but at the same time, it is important to supervise them.

The faculty version explains similar points, but also goes into detail about appropriate staff usage of equipment and resources. It states that when using a school device, we need to conduct ourselves professionally. At the same time, if we are doing work for school on our personal computer, we also have to understand that the “spirit of the policy applies” whenever we are doing a task for school.  I like that it states that they understand if teachers need to use their work computers for occasional personal use since the lines between professional and personal lives can mesh.

The faculty version also discusses social media and states that faculty and staff must take caution when posting anything on these sites that may affect how they are viewed professionally. Teachers and staff are warned against posting anything that may harm the school community’s reputation. Student work or images of students may not be posted on personal sites. We did have a violation of this rule at my school last year. A teacher posted an example of some student work on her personal Facebook. The student’s  name was crossed out, but a comment was made about the work that was inappropriate. Pictures of the post were shared among faculty who were friends with the teacher, and it ended up being shared with the principal. This teacher did receive disciplinary action for this violation.

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Overall, I am in line with both polices, and I am glad that I spent time reviewing them. It reminded me of things I need to remember to follow. For instance, my school’s policy states that teachers need to direct students to specific sites when researching and not permit a free search on websites. While I certainly do direct students to helpful and reliable sites, I feel that it is hard to avoid having the students do free searches. Sometimes that’s a natural thing that happens when researching. Despite finding this specific policy challenging, I feel that my school is on track with having these policies in place.