The use of technology is
ever present within today's schools. Government officials and educators, alike,
have implemented a variety of laws and regulations to ensure students are not
subjected to mature and explicit content. Here are two very important acts that
are in place to protect minors: CIPA and COPPA. CIPA
The Children’s Internet Protection Act(CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address the concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the internet. CIPA imposes certain requirements on school or libraries that receive discounts on internet access or internal connections through the E-rate program. The E-rate program makes certain communications services and products more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. The protection measures must block or filter internet access to pictures that are : obscene, pornography or harmful to minors. Before adapting internet safety policies, schools and libraries must provide reasonable notice and hold at least one public hearing or meeting to address the need. Schools subject to CIP have additional requirements as well.
COPPA(Children's Online Privacy Protection Act- TITLE XIII)
COPPA was enacted in 1998 and pertains to children thirteen and under. The act requires individuals who operates or maintain a website on the internet or any other online service to keep personal information from or about the users private. The release of personal information collected from a child by an operator can only be released or accessed with verifiable parental consent.
Get informed! Check with administrators to know your school district's policies are.
Here's to always learning...
-Emily
I suppose I've always known that there were certain protections for children when it came to the internet; specifically, when trying to do "research" in high school and half the cites were blocked from viewing. But I never really considered the purposes of these laws until entering into education myself. I think this blog is very concise on what educators need to know about students internet access, as well as, children's privacy laws for sharing information. Nice work :)
ReplyDeleteKenzie Dietrich
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ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Kenzie's comment; we know that it is important to protect children from harmful content on the internet, but perhaps we never took the time to really look into how and why such laws and protection took place. Your post really helped me think about why we must keep our students protected as they are on the web, and that they will be safer with the help of these laws. As I was reading, I found it interesting that these laws took so long to be enacted, considering that the internet was created around the early 90's.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I'm looking forward to doing some research of my own about this topic now. :)
Emily, I had no clue that there were acts like these that helped educators, parents and adolecence with protection, privacy, and pricing when it comes to the internet. I love the way you organized this blog to display the differences between the two acts. I always just thought schools had their own regulations when it came to internet and like Chelsea said above, your post helped me think about the difference we make in our students lives by protecting them, this being one of the main ways.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
Emily, I think that this was a very informative blog post! I had the same thought that Chelsea had about why it took so long for laws like this to be enacted. I wonder how easy it is for students to get past these blocks though (if they really wanted to). I know when I was in high school we had a problem one year with students being able to take away the webpage blockers and they were accessing inappropriate content. Students are really smart so I think that it is important to make sure that the internet security is always improving too. I also thought it was great that you mentioned to check with your administrators to see what your school's policies are, it would not have occurred to me to check that so I am glad you mentioned it!
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