Franklin Towne Charter
High School
5301 Tacony Street * Box 310 * Philadelphia, PA
19137-2308 * (215)-289-5000 * Fax: (215) 535-8910
FTCHS Acceptable Use Policy For The Internet
A. Educational Purpose
1.
Franklin Towne Charter High
School Net has been established for a limited educational purpose. The term “educational purpose” includes
classroom activities, career development, and limited high-quality
self-discovery activities.
2.
Franklin Towne Charter
High School has the right to place reasonable restrictions on the material
you access or post through the Internet system. You are also expected to follow the rules
set forth in Franklin
Towne Charter
High School’s rules and
regulations governing conduct, disciplinary code, and the law in your use of
School Net.
3.
You may not use Franklin Towne
Charter High School Net for commercial purposes. This means you may not offer, provide, or
purchase products or services through Franklin Towne Charter High School Net.
4.
You may not use Franklin Towne
Charter High School Net for political lobbying.
You may use the system to communicate with elected representatives and
to express your opinion on political issues.
B. Student Internet Access
All
students and staff will have access to the Internet World Wide Web information
resources through their classroom, library, or school computer.
C. Personal Safety
Because
they pose a threat to the personal safety of students and staff, the following
uses of Franklin Towne Charter High School Net are considered unacceptable:
1.
A student will not post
personal contact information about his/herself or other people. Personal contact information includes your
address, telephone number, school address, work address, etc.
2.
A student will not agree to
meet with someone he/she has met online.
3.
Students and staff will
promptly disclose to their teacher (or supervisor) any message they receive
that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable.
D. Illegal Activities
1.
Students and staff will not attempt to gain
unauthorized access to Franklin Towne Charter High School Net, to any other
computer system through School Net, or go beyond his/her authorized
access. This includes attempting to log
in through another person’s account or access another person’s files. These actions are illegal, even if only for
the purposes of “browsing.”
2.
Students and staff will not
make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by
spreading computer viruses or by any other means. These actions are illegal.
3.
Students and staff will not
use Franklin Towne Charter High School Net to engage in any other illegal act,
such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in
criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of a person, etc.
E. System Security
1.
You are responsible for your
individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others
from being able to use your account.
Under no conditions should you provide your password to another person.
2.
You will immediately notify a
teacher or the system administrator if you have identified a possible security
problem. Do not go looking for security
problems, because this may be construed as an illegal attempt to gain access.
3.
You will avoid the inadvertent
spread of computer viruses by following the Franklin Towne
Charter High
School virus protection procedures if you
download software.
4.
The System Administrator
reserves the right to delete user accounts that are not logged on or otherwise
used for one year.
5.
You will avoid keeping an
online session open when you leave your computer.
F. Inappropriate Language
Restrictions
against inappropriate language apply to public messages, private messages, and
material posted on Web pages, “you-tube”, “myspace”,
“facebook”, text messaging, emails, voice messages,
and any other internet related resource.
1.
You will not use obscene,
profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful
language.
2.
You will not post information
that could cause damage or a danger of disruption.
3.
You will not engage in
personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks.
4.
You will not harass another
person. Harassment is defined as
persistently acting in a manner that distresses or annoys another person. If you are told by a person to stop sending
those messages, you must stop.
5.
You will not knowingly or
recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization.
G. Respect for Privacy
1.
You will not re-post a message
that was sent to you privately without permission of the person who sent you
the message.
2.
You will not post private
information about another person.
H. Respecting Resource Limits
1.
You will use the system only
for educational and career development activities and limited, high-quality,
self-discovery activities. There is no
limit on use for education and career development activities
2.
You will not download large
files, unless absolutely necessary.
3.
You will not post chain
letters or engage in “spamming.”
Spamming is sending an annoying or unnecessary message to a large number
of people.
4.
You will check your e-mail
frequently, delete unwanted messages promptly, and stay within your e-mail
quota.
5.
You will subscribe only to
high quality discussion group mail lists that are relevant to your education or
career development.
I. Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
1.
You will not plagiarize works
that you find on the Internet.
Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writing of others and presenting them
as if they were yours.
2.
You will respect the rights of
copyright owners. Copyright infringement
occurs when you inappropriately reproduce a work that is protected by a
copyright. If a work contains language
that specifies appropriate use of that work, you should follow the expressed
requirements. If you are unsure whether
or not you can use a work, you should request permission from the copyright
owner. Copyright law can be very
confusing. If you have questions ask a
teacher.
3.
Franklin Towne Charter
High School abides by the following statement on software and intellectual
rights distributed by EDUCOM, a non-profit consortium of colleges and
universities committed to the use and management of information technology in
high education:
4.
“Respect for intellectual
labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all
authors and publishers in all media. It
encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgement, right to privacy and
right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publications and distribution.
5.
Because electronic information
is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression
or others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism,
invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright
violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the academic
community.”
J. Inappropriate Access to Material
1.
You will not use Franklin Towne
Charter High School Net to access material that is profane or obscene
(pornography), that advocates illegal acts, or that advocates violence or
discrimination towards other people (hate literature). A special exception may be made, if the
purpose of your access is to conduct research and both your teacher and parent
have approved.
2.
If you mistakenly access
inappropriate information, you should immediately tell your teacher. This will protect you against a claim that
you have intentionally violated this policy.
3.
Parents should inform you if
there is additional material that they think would be inappropriate for you to
access. Franklin Towne Charter
High School expects that
you will follow your parent’s instructions in this matter.
K. Limitation of Liability
1.
Franklin Towne Charter
High School makes no guarantee that the functions or the services provided by
or through Franklin Towne Charter High School Net will be error-free or without
defect. The School will not be
responsible for any damage you may suffer, including but not limited to, loss
of data or interruptions of service. The
School is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information
obtained through or stored on the system.
The school will not be responsible for financial obligations arising
through the unauthorized use of the system.
VIOLATION
OR ANY OF THESE ABOVE POLICIES WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINAY ACTION.