Internet+Safety

The acronym AUP stands for Acceptable Use Policy. It is an agreement that parents or legal guardians of students and employees of the school district should all comply with. It is in use to document the consent of students and educators that have network access to the internet. By following suggested terms, the AUP directly states technological behavior regarding the internet that if not followed can result in consequences. They are created by the school board of each district and included are guidelines that clearly state what is acceptable and unacceptable of internet users.

__ Local AUP’s: __
 * **Sevier** **County - ** items included are: general purpose, authorized users, internet access, network use, e-mail management, available penalties, and system warranties
 * **Jefferson** **County** **Student**- items included are: a general overview of access to internet and network; guidelines for acceptable use; section for users and parents to sign off on
 * **Hamblen** **County - ** items included are: introduction to AUP, guidelines to obtain computer access, penalties for misuse, and a list of inappropriate technological behavior
 * **Knox** **County - ** items included are: general introduction to internet safety, expectations and acceptable use of internet, unacceptable uses of the internet, internet filtering, penalties for improper use, and student internet safety

__ Review of AUP’s: __ Sevier County’s AUP was informative and clearly stated what was no acceptable; however after the information that was given (which was not as much as other county’s) there was no place for a user or legal guardian to sign off on that information. Hamblen County AUP I feel could easily raise question. It had mentions of a personal account and passwords. No other county had mention of personal accounts on the computer in their AUP’s. I feel that personal accounts are a great way to keep track of unruly internet behavior; however I was uncertain why no other county has listed that information. I feel there could have been more information regarding passwords and accounts for guardians of users to understand the procedures. Knox county’s AUP had a lot of information that was helpful to gain understanding of their acceptable policies and also there looked to be at the bottom of the page a link or guide for parents to receive more information. There was not a designated place for a signature of compliance which I feel would be a helpful item to have documented. *****Jefferson County Student AUP was the document that I found the best**. It was a detailed document that made it clear to users and guardians what was expected out of the internet privilege and what was not tolerable. What I liked the most is that there was a designated area at the bottom of the form for the parent or user to initial meaning they comply with the agreement. Also it confirms that in the event that unacceptable behavior has taken action, the user and guardian will have no defense in appealing the behavior because they verified through their signature that they understood what was considered acceptable regarding computer use. [|Jefferson County AUP]