Posted 5/23/01 NB School Board gets briefing on Internet use policies By Jason Sileo The North Branch School Board heard an Internet security report at its regular meeting May 10. School Board President Mary Jo Ahlgren said she had requested the report from Steven Blomquist, technology coordinator, to be sure the district was in line with common Internet practices and offering students proper online protection. Blomquist said the Internet use policies and guidelines are to be adhered to by both students and staff, and that they generally comprised a list of ìdo-notsî for those using the schoolsí technology to access the Internet. All activity on the machines can be monitored and recorded if and when necessary, Blom-quist said, but added that Internet filters are generally doing most of the work for the district. (Continued from front) The filters are updated constantly to limit the possibility that a student might end up on an inappropriate site. ìThe first line of defense is adult supervision,î he said, indicating that students are generally supervised while online and that deliberate misuse of the machines is therefore limited off the bat. ìWe want (the computers) used for educational purposes,î he said. It is not altogether uncommon for a student to end up on an inappropriate Web site completely by accident, Blomquist said. ìUsually, itís an accident,î he said. He said most students will report such an incident to their teacher and that the teacher would then report the site to the technology department for filtering purposes. Blomquist said, for example, a student had been doing a general search for information on the Titanic, and, ìI wonít describe what came up on the screen, but it wasnít the ship.î A student could hardly be held accountable in such an instance, he said, and added that the responsible trend among the students is to report these incidents promptly. At that point Blomquist added that he hoped he was not being naive. Students are allowed to access some sites which some adults might consider objectionable for research purposes, Blomquist said. ìWe get into some that are kind of grey areas for us,î he said. The question asked in such circumstances, he said, is: ìIs this an educational piece of information, or is it not?î Some material is also screened from younger students which may be considered age appropriate for high schoolers, he said. Blomquist said the districtís stance is quite similar when considering appropriate use for e-mail accounts, and that chat rooms are generally frowned upon. Blomquist again cited adult supervision as the number one deterrent to misuse of the facilities, and certainly most of the policies in place are based on common sense usage. As for viruses, ìThatís a whole ënother issue,î Blomquist said. ìIt can get pretty wild.î ©Post Review