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12-27-2007 By MICHELLE MILLER Staff Writer An internet safety instruction was added to the current policy, which basically gives the school district, in accordance with New York State Education Law, the right to provide students instruction designed to promote proper and safe uses of the internet. According to CCS Superintendent Mary Jo McPhail, the school district was already doing this, but it was required to have the internet safety instruction documented in the existing policy. McPhail, however, said she does feel that internet safety is important. "We just want to make them (the students) aware of all the potential pitfalls out there," said McPhail. "We want to make them aware of the dangers that can befall them." In compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, the district already utilizes technology protection measures, such as filters, to protect students and personnel from what pops up on the internet. However, no filtering technology can guarantee that staff and students will be prevented from accessing all inappropriate locations. This is why teachers and appropriate district personnel are also responsible for monitoring internet content. High School Library Media Specialist Michelle Hitchcock said it is a part of her job to monitor what the students are doing on the internet, even though there are current filters that block designated sites and particular words. Hitchcock said she can see all of the computers in the library from her desk, so she watches to see what the kids are up to when surfing the web. "It doesn't matter what filters you have, things will still slip through," Hitchcock said. Hitchcock said she tries to teach CCS students not to trust everything they find on the internet, because anyone can post information on the web. She said she teaches the students to evaluate everything, and says the famous saying she teaches is, "Think before you link." Students who do not follow instructions while doing research at the library are forced to use only book resources, according to Hitchcock. The library media specialist said she encourages the students to use the online databases when doing research. She said Google searches are used only as a last resort. Hitchcock said the school district pays for certain online databases, and the state provides some for free. "They are excellent resources," Hitchcock said. Hitchcock said people can access the online databases through the public library or on the library page on the school's Web site, cooperstowncs. org. She said people should contact her so they can get passwords needed to access the databases, which she said have proven to be a successful resource for college students who learned how to use them when at CCS. Both Hitchcock and McPhail said they feel parents should share the responsibility of protecting children from inappropriate material posted on the internet. "I think everybody, as adults, needs to know what kids are seeing," said Hitchcock. |
Copyright 2007, Cooperstown Crier, Cooperstown, NY All rights reserved