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Internet Filter and Web Safety
INTERNET FILTERING
CIPA - Child Internet Protection Act
In accordance with CIPA, CUSD filters the internet for students. The internet filter looks categorizes and blocks internet content from millions of websites, pictures, videos, and other content online. Just like technology changes, so does the internet. Websites that did not exist yesterday, may house illicit, unsavory, or dangerous content today. Search terms may point to new images and content that was previously unavailable. Because of the open-market nature of the internet, no web filter is going to block everything. That is unreasonable as recognized by CIPA.
CUSD will continue to filter the internet to provide the safest internet experience for students. We are taking the most precautious measures to restrict students from accessing material harmful to them
DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
In conjunction with filtering the internet and protecting students through the use of a web filter, CUSD has also implemented a digital citizenship, online safety, and information literacy curriculum which every student will complete the first month of school. Each student will receive at least 3 hours of curriculum taught by district teachers much like students receive instruction on safety on the playground, school rules, and lab safety rules.
It is not enough to filter the internet, as no filter is perfect, students must learn how to work in an online environment. CUSD will continue to diligently filter the internet and teach students the ethics, safety, and literacy of operating in an online environment.
RECENT CHANGES THAT HAVE IMPACTED THE FILTER.
Over the past year, Google and Yahoo have moved to encrypted internet traffic. This can be seen as websites are now listed as https rather than http. The “s” stands for secure, meaning the information packets that travel through the internet connection are encrypted. While this is better for internet privacy, it does inhibit the ability of internet filters to observe the packets of information that make up the search results and webpages that students view while they are on the internet, both on and off school campuses.
Currently, CUSD is changing to an internet filter that has a better ability to search and decrypt the packets of information on the internet more effectively.
IF STUDENTS ACCESS INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL
Intentional Violation of AUP
Students will always be able to find something inappropriate if they try hard enough and break the Acceptable Use Policy for student technology use. CUSD relies on the diligent work of teachers throughout the district to enforce the Acceptable Use Policy and a violation of the policy requires disciplinary actions in accordance with site and district guidelines.
Incidental Violation of AUP
Students may also come across inappropriate material through search terms or clicking on the wrong links. For example, searching for a cleavage produces different images than does “mineral cleavage.” This can lead students to coming across images that are not related to the project on minerals for their physical science class. This type of violation should be reported to the teacher immediately as the teacher can help the student work through this. This circles back to the education for students on navigating a digital environment. Please see the digital citizenship reminders available to students by navigating to the Student Homepage and clicking on any of the tasks or online activities. This web page is the homepage for CUSD students logged in to Google Chrome.