An Educator's Guide To Enforcing Acceptable Use Policies

Enforcing Acceptable Use Policies
Written by Kim Fitzer, Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale, Illinois

Original written by Jim Peterson, Bloomington School District, Bloomington, IL
Introduction
Because so many school districts across the country have adopted Acceptable Use Policies,
the utilization and development of these policies now seem to be somewhat standard. Much
has been written on the purpose and writing of a good Acceptable Use Policy, so this paper
will not dwell on these topics. However, several key issues have arisen in conjunction with
the adoption of Acceptable Use Policies in recent months, and it may be important to
investigate the ramifications of these issues. This paper will primarily focus on the
enforcement of acceptable use policies, and additional considerations which may have to be
made by school technology administrators and staff.
Issues Involved with Enforcing Acceptable Use Policies
A school's acceptable use policy is useless unless it is strictly enforced. A school district
may have an ironclad policy which staunchly protects itself and its users from engaging in
"illegal" activities, and may have state-of-the art security measures such as firewalls and
tracking and filtering software installed on its servers. However, the bottom line is, unless the
staff, students, parents and administrators are prepared to continually monitor Internet use,
an acceptable use policy means nothing to the very people is is supposed to legally protect.
The following are examples of how schools can enforce the acceptable use policy, and make
the consequences for violating the policy swift and consistent.
If an AUP states that all users' activities will be monitored, then the school IT staff
needs to be sure that it is doing just that. The school server should maintain an
"Internet log" or history of all sites visited by users. Furthermore, this log should be
reviewed daily, to determine if unacceptable activity has taken place and where. If
users are aware from the beginning that their goings and comings on the Internet will
be observed, and that noncompliance will result in their being barred from the use of
the system, inevitably fewer problems will arise (1).
If the school employs the use of filters to block unacceptable content, there needs to be
an understanding that filters cannot possibly block all questionable content, and may
block material that is useful to staff and students. Where filters fail, a very well-written
AUP can take over. The AUP should be very clear on what kinds of content is
considered unacceptable, whether it be chat rooms, news groups, pornography, sites
that promote hate or violence, term paper vending machine sites, gaming, or any other
questionable material. By avoiding generalities and vague language in the drafting of
the AUP, districts can minimize their liabilities in the even that the filters fail (2).
In order to be sure that students, staff and parents understand the provisions within and
consequences of violating the AUP, merely requiring the users signature may not be
enough. Explaining the AUP to students in an open discussion forum, holding staff
inservices on the provisions of the AUP and how to effectively use the Internet, making
recommendations for meaningful assignments that use the Internet, restructuring
An Educator's Guide to Enforcing Acceptable Use Policies http://education.illinois.edu/wp/crime-2002/aup.htm
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computer labs so that all computers are visible from a single location, and involving
parents in their child's computer usage are all steps that a school can take to ensure
compliance with their AUP (3).
Further monitoring of the school's network, especially in schools with extremely heavy
technology use, may require the use of software that only activates when violations
have occurred within the system. Products such as eSniff and VIEW passively sit on
the school's server and do not activate until the linguistic and analyzing technology
detects inappropriate use. Without the user's knowledge, the software then alerts the
proper authorities and auto-saves the offending document for the administrator to view
to determine if an infraction has occurred. The software also logs the time and IP
address of the computer used. While this seems like a violation of privacy, one of the
main features of an AUP is to notify users that they essentially have no right to privacy
if they use an institution's system (4). Further, the use of a product such as this allows a
greater freedom in the use of the Internet for educators and students, while only limiting
unacceptable use. Filtering software is not needed (5).
Minimizing Potential for AUP Violations
As stated before, the enforcement of an AUP really requires strong support from everyone in
the educational community: administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, and of course,
students. If an AUP exists only as a document and not an inviolable entity within the culture
of the school, transgressions will occur. Further, steps taken prior to the need to enforce the
AUP is perhaps the best approach. Several precautions can be taken to ensure that the
AUP is followed:
Use clear and precise language: A well-written document will eliminate confusion and
minimize liabilities for students, staff and administrators. Be sure to carefully list all
circumstances in which a violation may occur and avoid generalities.
Frequently review and revise the AUP. Make sure that all technology bases are
covered, and eliminate any legalese that may seem deliberately confusing to the
average reader (6). It may also help to consult all parties in the community to find out
where the areas of concern are, and address them in the AUP. For instance, if a
teacher feels that students should not be playing games, even in their free time in her
computer lab, but other teachers do allow it, then a consensus needs to be reached
regarding games and stated so in the AUP.
Make sure that the AUP is school board approved for the entire district. Legal
implications (which will be discussed later ) as well as conflicting information may arise
if the school board has no knowledge of or has not voted on the provisions within the
policy, especially if every school in the district drafts their own. Once again, clear and
precise stipulations for accountability, consequences, what constitutes improper and
proper use, liability limitations, codes of conduct, and establishment of a review and
audit process should be spelled out carefully and agreed upon by the school board, in
the event violations do occur (7).
Legal Implications
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Because violations of a school's AUP can and do occur, even with the most ironclad of
documents, schools need to be aware of the potential legal ramifications that may arise
should a student or staff member be reprimanded for a transgression. Several cases have
developed which illustrate the need for extensive research prior to drafting an AUP, so that
the legal pitfalls may be avoided.
In a lawsuit filed by a member of the community and parent of a student, Exeter
Regional Cooperative School District's AUP was called into question when it was
discovered that the Internet logs the district's servers regularly recorded were not being
monitored. Furthermore, when the logs were requested by the community member for
perusal, the district refused and called on their own right to privacy. Courts take a dim
view of this claim, particularly when the Internet logs are intended to monitor Internet
use, which is itself not subject to invasion of privacy guarantees. If the district is
monitoring Internet use, there can be no claim for an invasion of privacy, by any parties
involved (8).
As the AUP is written for and protects the school community, the school community
also needs to be aware of how the AUP applies to them. Some members of the
community, such as parents and school board members may think that an AUP does
not apply to them because they are not direct users of the school's system. However,
an AUP should cover all electronic communication, and in particular the wording of that
communication. Failing to regard "netiquette" when sending emails can subject the
author to libel at the worst, and an embarrassing situation at the least. Many states
have enacted "sunshine laws" requiring that when two or more school board members
gather, an actual meeting is taking place and therefore subject to public disclosure.
Using e-mail to voice opinions and views about faculty, administration, other board
members, parents, students or board policies may be a violation of the sunshine laws,
or may open the school board to litigation by the offended party (9). And some schools
have taken steps to minimize teacher harassment by parents through e-mail by adding
a parental code of conduct to their AUP (10). While there are currently no lawsuits
regarding inflammatory and defamatory language from parents pending, the potential
may exist in some areas.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How can I be sure that my school's AUP is enforceable?
Review the school's AUP and use the above guidelines as a reference. If the AUP
seems to contain vague language, or is written in legalese, or seems to be too
general in terms of what it will and won't permit, the AUP may need to revised.
Also, it may be helpful to take the AUP to a member of the Language Arts
Department (if that is not your subject area), and have the document scanned for
improper wording, misspelling, or other potential problems (11). Remember, if it is
not clear to you, a highly-educated individual, then it will not be clear to your
students.
What should I do if one of my students has violated the district's AUP?
First, make sure that a violation has occurred. If your district does not employ
tracking or "smart" technology, then it may be that your district has passed the
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accountability reins to you. Be aware of what content areas and transgressions
constitute a violation, and then compare what the student has done with those
provisions. If a violation has occurred, then the issue should be taken directly to
the dean of students, or any other disciplinary team in the building. At this point it
is out of your hands. The absolute worst action would be to take no action at all.
This conveys several negative messages to your students:
1) That the AUP is essentially worthless, and that computer use
violations are acceptable in your classroom.
2) That your authority can be challenged. As any teacher knows, one of
the keys to a good classroom management plan is maintaining a
position of authority when classroom or school rules have been violated.
Annotated Web Site Directory
(1) November 1, 2000. David A. Splitt. Ethics and Law -- "Acceptable-use policies are
useless unless strictly enforced." Published online in eSchool News Online.
http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=1764
(2) July 1, 2001. David A. Splitt. "Back up your filtering with an airtight AUP." Published
online in eSchool News Online. http://www.eschoolnews.org
/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=2755
(3) January 1, 2001. "Five Keys to Supporting an Acceptable Use Policy."
abstracted from "Setting Standards for Acceptable Use" by Jerry Crystal, Cherie A. Geide,
and Judy Salpeter Technology & Learning, November 2000, p. 24. Published online in
eSchool News Online. http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=2150
(5) 2002. Vericept Corporation. "Content monitoring, blocking and filtering: a comparison."
http://www.vericept.com/solutions/education_monitor.shtml
(6) November 1, 2001. David A. Splitt. "Give your AUP a fall tune-up--here's how." Published
online in eSchool News Online. http://www.eschoolnews.org
(7) October 1, 2001. David A. Splitt. "Understanding the P in AUP." Published online in
eSchool News Online
(9) 2002. Kathleen Vail. "The Perils of E-mail." Published online in the American School
Board Journal. Cover Story, September 2002. http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory2.html
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(10) September 5, 2000. Cara Branigan. "Fear of flaming leads school to issue eMail code of
conduct to parents." Published online in eSchool News Online. http://www.eschoolnews.org
(11) November 1, 2001. David A. Splitt. "Give your AUP a fall tune-up--here's how."
Published online in eSchool News Online. http://www.eschoolnews.org
"Sunshine laws." Published online in the First Amendment Handbook by Reporters Committee for
Freedom of the Press. Chapter 9, Sec. 3 http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/viewpage.cgi?0903
7 August 2002
Return to Addendum to Educator's Guide to Computer Crime and Technology Misuse
Developed 29 July 2002.
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Enforcing Acceptable Use Policies

Written by Kim Fitzer, Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale, Illinois

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