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Internet Safety Stressed in RCPS

Internet safety is taken seriously in Rockingham County Public Schools.  Parents should reasonably expect that students in RCPS are afforded the tremendous educational benefits of the Internet in a safe environment.  As stated in the RCPS  Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), "In accordance with Va. Code § 22.1-70.2, Rockingham County Public Schools requires all students to receive Internet safety training.  Internet safety is both taught to and practiced by all students, grades K-12, with special emphasis placed in the RCPS Computer 8 curriculum."  Below are some steps RCPS has taken to promote Internet safety. Further guidelines pertaining to Rockingham's AUP and Internet safety can be found in this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

1.  Teaching Internet safety to employees

  • Numerous inservices for teachers and administrators have been provided
  • College coursework sponsored by RCPS, such as EDUC 501, includes instruction in Internet safety
  • One of the RCPS Instructional Technology Resource Teachers, Joe Showker, has become known throughout the state for his expertise in Internet safety

2.  Teaching Internet safety to students

  • Instructional Technology Resource Teachers provide 45 minute programs for all RCPS 5th graders (new in 2006-07)
  • Internet safety/Computer Ethics is a unit in the 8th grade computer class.  TInternet Safetyhe picture shown in this section is from an 8th grade class playing the "Missing" game which teaches Internet safety.

3.  Teaching Internet safety to the community

  • Instructional Technology Resource Teachers provide Internet safety programs for PTO’s and civic groups
  • Information is provided for parental communications such as newsletters



4.  Filtering all Internet access.  SmartFilter™ blocks:

  • sexually explicit sites
  • violent sites
  • anonymizer sites
  • inappropriate sites in languages other than English
  • sites which are commonly used by teenagers to display personal information such as myspace.com

5.  Logging student and employee Internet use

  • Internet use in all schools is done with adult supervision
  • Internet use in schools cannot be done anonymously
  • Upon request, Internet use logs are provided to school administrators

6.  Disallowing/regulating student access to e-mail

  • The only external e-mail access provided is for students in AP classes and this e-mail is highly restricted
  • E-mail is provided for students in the 8th grade computer technology classes but students cannot e-mail outside RCPS
  • All other external e-mail is blocked during the school day except for FirstClass (employees only)
  • All “chat” sites are blocked during the school day

7.  Updating, publicizing and enforcing our Acceptable Use Policy

  • Policy IIBEA is included in student handbook
  • Violators are aggressively pursued
  • The AUP states “Students utilizing school-provided Internet access are responsible for good behavior on-line just as they are in a classroom or other area of the school. The same general rules for behavior and communications apply.”
  • Electronic misbehaviors are misbehaviors and are treated as such

8.  Regulating student blogging

  • All general blog sites such as blogger.com are blocked so students may not access blogs hosted at this site and other non-educational hosts
  • Allowed blogs are those that require adult approval for all postings (www.edublogs.org or www.learnerblog.org)

9.  Making it easy for adults to monitor student Internet use

  • All computer labs and libraries are arranged so the monitors aim inward so an adult can see them
  • Tech staff has access to software which allows workstations to be monitored, real-time, remotely
  • Tech staff routinely monitors frequently visited websites

10.  Practicing safe Internet postings

  • No student’s name is linked to his picture on a RCPS website
  • Confidential student information is not available to Internet users

11.  Securing the RCPS network both internally and externally

  • Unfiltered Internet access is impossible from within the network
  • A secure firewall is in place to prevent intrusion from outside the network
  • Anti-spam, anti-virus software is installed and kept up-to-date

Virginia is doing its part, too.  HB 58 (2006) requires all school divisions to “include a component of Internet safety for students that is integrated in a division’s instructional program.”  The Virginia Department of Education has recently published Guidelines and Resources for Internet Safety in Schools.  Additional information about Internet safety from the DOE can be found at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/OET/internet-safety-guidelines.shtml

VDOE