Copyright ©1999--Spirit Lake Community School District (Iowa, USA)

Revised: 05/20/99 P.1

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The Spirit Lake Community School District has actively pursued advanced technology and increased awareness of learning opportunities to promote educational excellence. SpiritNet, the Spirit Lake Community School District Network, and the Internet represent powerful educational resources that will allow you to find information in the worldwide electronic network. You will be able to connect to other schools, students around the world, major universities, national libraries, and businesses.

Just as there are social codes and behaviors acceptable at school, you need to learn the correct procedures and rules for using SpiritNet and the Internet. At the beginning of each school year all students and the parent/care giver (if the student is under age 18) has to sign the User Agreement and Parent Permission Form which means that you are aware of the rules and the consequences which will result if these rules are broken.

It is important you understand that your use of this powerful educational tool is a privilege. Like your drivers license though, its use can be taken from you for breaking the rules. You must respect other net users and those that provide and maintain it. Anyone who uses the network illegally, improperly, or for commercial or for-profit services will lose the privilege of using it.

The Internet is a global network made up of many smaller contributing networks to support the open exchange of information among many different kinds of institutions all over the world. This system gives immediate access to information. It's like being able to open every book in any library from your computer. You can look at (and print out) articles, documents, pictures, current facts about news, weather, sports, and markets.

The Spirit Lake Community School District Network is called SpiritNet and is one of the networks that make up the Internet. Each Spirit Lake School lab, classroom, and office is part of the SpiritNet. Every member of the student body, staff, administration, and support staff has access to the SpiritNet.

The Internet and SpiritNet are "public places." You must always remember you are sharing this space with many other users, potentially millions of individuals at the same time. If you use a particular service on the network, chances are good that someone knows the connections you are making, knows about the computer shareware you have borrowed, and knows what you looked at while you were in the system. Because these connections are granted to you as part of the larger scope of the curriculum, the Spirit Lake Community School District reserves the right to monitor all traffic on the network.

Our school has a behavior code that details appropriate behavior, outlines rights, and sets expectations. Because the Spirit Lake Community School District's SpiritNet is used as part of a school activity, the school's code of conduct applies to network activities as well. Therefore, the network use policy is an extension of the school's behavior code and each building's student handbook. Harassment, the use of abusive or obscene language, vandalism of computer equipment, unauthorized access to information, computer piracy, hacking, and any tampering with hardware or software will not be tolerated. Anyone who is intentionally responsible for a computer being infected with viruses will be held liable.

The Spirit Lake Community School District wants to provide you with a stimulating educational environment, but at the same time, we want to protect you from information that is not appropriate for students to use. The SpiritNet is designed to achieve and support instructional goals, and any information that does not support classroom learning is to be avoided.

We do not condone the use or accessing of inappropriate information. We acknowledge the fact that these materials exist and we will do everything we can to actively avoid them. We cannot, however, weed out all of the materials that are unacceptable. Therefore, it must be clearly understood that access to such material in any form is strictly forbidden.

Although the actual percentage of unacceptable materials is small, it can cause concern for students, parents and others. If a student stumbles onto such information while doing legitimate research, the student needs to contact a teacher or computer lab operator.

It may seem that there is no limit to the resources on the Internet, but the SpiritNet has a limited capacity to handle traffic. If there are too many users at any given time, the traffic on the network grinds to a crawl, just like a traffic jam on a freeway. Although the network may slow down, it will continue to function. If there is a major congestion, some users may be cut off altogether.

To help avoid "gridlock," follow these guidelines:

Do not tie up the Network with idle activities.

Do not play games with others on the Network or on the Internet.

It is NOT Nintendo. Play games on your own time and on your own equipment.

Do not download huge files from places half a globe away.

Only take the information you want and need. The best thing to do is get into the Internet, get what you need, and get out.

You are expected to use the Network to pursue intellectual activities, seek resources, access libraries and find international friends. When you are using the computer network and communicating with others in remote or even close locations, keep the following in mind: (1) You cannot see them; (2) You cannot determine how old they are or even what sex they are; (3) They can tell you anything, and you cannot always be sure what they are telling you is true; and (4) Absolute privacy cannot be guaranteed in a network environment. You need to think carefully about what you say and how you say it.

For your own safety and the safety of others, exercise caution when you are communicating with people in the outside world. Do not give your home phone number or your address to anyone. They do not need to have that information. If you feel there is a problem or if you feel uncomfortable with the information someone is giving you, tell your teacher or computer lab operator immediately.

You may not harass other users. You don't want to run the risk of breaking the law by bothering other people. If a user on the network asks that you no longer send them mail or have any other contact with them, you are obliged to stop all contact immediately. You may feel you have the right of freedom of expression, but others have the right to be free from harassment.

Guidelines for access to information have already been established in the Library Bill of Rights of 1980. These principles can be applied to the Internet. This document states that 'attempts to restrict access to library materials violate the basic tenets of the Library Bill of Rights;" however, school staff is required to devise collections that are "consistent with the philosophy, goals, and objectives of the school district." This means that people have the right to information, but the school has the right to restrict any information that does not apply to the approved curriculum.

Consider the Internet as a vast digital library. The electronic database and information search tools it uses are part of school media centers and libraries, and many public libraries.

LEGAL ISSUES

1. The Law

The state of Iowa passed a computer crime statute in 1984. The statute covers unauthorized access, computer damage and computer theft. Penalties include fines up to $10,000.00 and/or confinement for no more than 10 years. Anyone committing acts of this kind will face police charges, and disciplinary action by the school. The person will be punished to the full extent of the law. Some examples of offenses are system, computer network, computer software, computer program, or computer data when damage results in a loss of property of services of more than $10,000.00 or any other computer damage.

2. Plagiarism

The dictionary defines plagiarism as "taking ideas or writings from another person and offering them as your own." The student who leads readers to believe that they are reading original work when it is copied is guilty of plagiarism. Credit must always be given to the person who created the article or the idea.

3. Copyright

Copyright is a very critical issue in regards to the Internet and SpiritNet. According to the Copyright Act of 1976, "Fair Use" means that you may freely use any information that you legally find on the Internet as long as you do so only for scholarly purposes. You may not plagiarize or sell what you find.

Series 600

Policy Title: Computer Network Code No. 603.15 Adopted: June 12, 1995

The Spirit Lake Community School District declares unethical and unacceptable behavior just cause for taking disciplinary action, revoking networking privileges, and/or initiating legal action for any activity through which an individual:

Uses the Network for illegal, inappropriate, or obscene purposes, or in support of such activities. Illegal activities shall be defined as a violation of local, state, and/or federal laws. Inappropriate use shall be defined as a violation of the intended use of the network, and/or purpose and goal. Obscene activities shall be defined as a violation of generally accepted social standards for use of publicly owned and operated communication vehicles;

Uses the Network for any illegal activity, including violation of copyrights for other contracts violating such matters as institutional or third party copyright, license agreements and other contracts;

Intentionally disrupts network traffic or crashes the network and connected systems; Degrades or disrupts equipment or system performance;

Uses the Spirit Lake Community School District computing resources for commercial or financial gain or fraud;

Steals data, equipment, or intellectual property;

Gains unauthorized access of others' files, or vandalizes the data of another user;

Forges electronic mail messages, or uses an account owned by another user.

Wastefully uses finite resources;

Invades the privacy of individuals; Posts anonymous messages;

Saves ANY information to public hard drives;

Possesses any data that might be considered a violation of these rules in paper, magnetic (disk), or any other form.

1. Consequences of Violations include, but are not limited to:

Suspension of Internet access

Revocation of Internet access.

Suspension of Network privileges

Revocation of Network privileges.

Suspension of computer access

Revocation of computer access

School suspension

School expulsion

Legal action and prosecution by authorities

2. Remedies and Recourses

If you are accused of any of the violations, you have all of the rights and privileges provided in the school policy for other violations.

The District has the right to restrict or terminate Network and Internet access at any time for any reason. The District further has the right to monitor Network activity in any form that it sees fit to maintain the integrity of the Network.