Acceptable Use Policies

Tonight in class, Mr. E passed out a 2007 news article from USA Today. The article talked about a seventh grade substitute teacher, Mrs Julie Amero, and how she used a computer in the classroom. Mrs. Amero was accused of browsing adult content while teaching the classroom. Well that is what the law is saying. According to the USA Today article, Mrs. Amero stepped out of the classroom for a few minutes and the students in the room got online and abused the computer. When Mrs. Amero returned back to the room, she saw the students browsing the web and did not know how to correctly handle the situation. The students in return went home and told their parents about the incident of Mrs. Amero "browsing adult material" and the parents told the school, etc. In the end, Mrs. Amero ended up being charged and sentenced up to forty years in prison.

After reading the article, I was in shock and could not believe the situation at hand. Mr. E explained that if Mrs. Amero would have had a simple set of rules for the classroom she might have ended up with a different result, and could possibly still be teaching. These rules Mr. E mentioned are called Acceptable Use Policies or AUP for short. An APU is a written agreement, signed by both the students, their parents, and teachers, outlining the terms and conditions of internet use. AUPs act as a safeguard between teachers and the content they and their students browse while in the classroom.

As an assignment and response to reading this USA Today article, Mr. E challenged the class to compile a list of ten APUs they would use in their classroom. I created ten rules that my students would follow while using both the computer and the internet. They are as follows: No food or drink allowed near or around the computers, Do not rough house around the computers, Remain in your seat unless required to move around, Do not Power off the computer unless the teacher tells you, Do not download, transfer, or alter any computer settings, The CD/DVD Rom drive is to remain closed at all times, Access only websites that are approved by the teacher. These are located in the bookmarks found in the safari window, Remain off of social networks (Facebook, mayspace, etc.), chat rooms, and instant messaging sites, Never provide any website with personal information, Do not click on pop up windows or any external link you are not aware of.

My list of Acceptable Use Procedures in relation to the situation at hand in Mrs. Amero's case, limit the ways a student can interact with the internet. It would have prevented in total the mess that happened in the article. They would have solely held the students responsible for their actions and could have even, possibly, acquitted Mrs. Amero of her charges. If I was in the situation that Mrs. Amero was in, you better believe that I would rely on the classroom AUPs as my eye witness in what happened. Possibly even referring to them and pointing out that the students, teachers and parents all agreed to them.