Seguin ISD has developed a plan to promote and ensure the safe and responsible use of communications technologies within the district. This policy protects students from inappropriate content, protects against unauthorized use of the district's network, safeguards employee and student data and privacy, and ensures that SISD is in compliance with CIPA, the Children's Internet Protection Act. The Seguin ISD Internet Safety Policy was approved by the SISD School Board on May 22, 2012. The entire policy can be downloaded here.
CIPA, or the Children's Internet Protection Act, is legislation that was passed by Congress in 2001. It defines harmful and inappropriate use of Internet resources by students and provides minimum guidelines for schools to follow in protecting students while they are online. For more information, visit this link: Children's Internet Protection Act.
The Seguin ISD Internet Safety Plan states:
Seguin ISD will advocate and educate employees, students, parents and the SISD community on Internet safety and “cyber-bullying.” Education will be provided through such means as professional development training and materials, presentations, special programs, classroom instruction of the Technology Application TEKS, and the SISD website.
As part of this process, the following resources are presented to support classroom teachers and parents in engaging in discussions of Internet safety with students.
NetSmartz - Parents - information, videos, and other resources for a wide range of digital safety topics; Educators - Wide range of resources, including teaching kits, teaching materials, presentations, & more for kids; Kid - Games, activities, videos, surveys, and other resources designed for elementary students.
Commonsense Media - Good, practical tips and resources for parents and children.
Commonsense Professional Development - Free, online training in Internet safety and digital ethics.
Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum - Lesson plans covering safety, security, digital citizenship, and information literacy.
OnlineSchools.org - Guide to Bullying and Cyberbullying
Living Life Online - Helpful guide for students from the FTC that addresses a wide range of safety and responsibility issues and questions.
Internet Safety 101 - Variety of resources suitable for teachers or families, including videos, safety rules, more.
Net Cetera -Useful guide for parents (or teachers) to initiate discussions of online safety with students.
Internet Safety video playlist - Collection of YouTube videos addressing a variety of issues relating to digital safety and responsible Internet use.
Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum - Lesson plans for teaching Internet safety, citizenship, and digital literacy.