A. Educational Purpose

1. The school's internet access has been established for a limited educational purpose. The term "educational purpose" includes classroom activities, academic research, and career development/college placement activities.

2. The school's internet access has not been established as a public access service or a public forum. Mount Saint Dominic Academy has the right to place reasonable restrictions on the material you access or post through the system. You are also expected to follow the rules set forth in the Student Handbook and Federal law in your use of the school's internet access.

3. You may not use the school's internet access for commercial purposes. This means you may not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through the school's internet access.

4. You may not use the school's internet access for political lobbying, but you may use the system top communicate with elected representatives and to express your opinion on political issues.

5. All internet access is filtered to eliminate inappropriate information and websites.

B Student Internet Access

1. All students will have access to internet information resources through the school computers.

2. Students will be provided  with an email address @msdacademy.org which is to be used for educational purposes, including communicating with teachers and coaches. Students email may be monitored. Students will not be allowed to use any other email account while in school.

C. Unacceptable Use

The following uses of the school’s internet access are considered unacceptable:

1. Personal Safety

• You will not post personal contact information about yourself or other people. Personal contact information includes your home address, telephone and school address.
• You will not agree to meet with someone you have met online without your parent's approval. Your parent should accompany you to this meeting.
• You will promptly disclose to your teacher or other svhool employee any message you receive that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable.

2. Illegal Activities

• You will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the school’s internet access or to any other computer system through the school’s internet access or go beyond your authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another person’s account or access another person’s files. These actions are illegal, even if only for the purpose of "browsing."
• You will not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means. These actions are illegal.
• You will not use the school’s internet access to engage in any other illegal act, such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of another person, etc.
• You may not download files not approved by the school while using the school’s internet connection such as music, games, videos, etc.

3. System Security

• You are responsible for your individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use your account. Under no circumstances should you provide your password to another person.
• You will immediately notify a teacher or system administrator if you have identified a possible security problem. Do not go looking for security problems, because this may be construed as an illegal attempt to gain access.

4.Inappropriate Language

• Restrictions against inappropriate language apply to public and private messages.
• You will not use obscene, profane, lewd, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language.
• You will not post information that could cause damage or a danger of disruption.
• You will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks.
• You will not harass another person. Harassment is persistently acting in a manner that distresses or annoys another person. If you are told by a person to stop sending them messages, you must stop.
• You will not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information about a person or organization.

5. Respect for Privacy

• You will not repost a message that was sent to you privately without permission of the person who sent you the message.
• You will not post private information about another person.

6. Respecting Resource Limits

• You will use the system only for educational and career development/college placement activities.
• You will not post chain letters or engage in "spamming." Spamming is sending an annoying or unnecessary message to a ,large number of people.
• You will delete e-mail from unknown sources, since the material may be objectionable and/or carry viruses.
• You will not enter any chat room.
• You will not use any inappropriate blogging website.

7. Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

• You will not plagiarize works that you find on the Internet. Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others and presenting them as if they were yours.
• You will respect the rights of copyright owners. Copyright infringement occurs when you inappropriately reproduce a work that is protected by a copyright. If a work contains language that specifies appropriate use of that work, you should follow the expressed requirements. If you are unsure whether or not you can use a work, you should request permission from the copyright owner. Copyright law can be very confusing. If you have any questions, ask a teacher.

8. Inappropriate Access to Material

• You will not use the school’s internet access to access material that is profane or obscene ( pornography), that advocates illegal acts, or that advocates violence or discrimination towards other people  (hate literature).
• If you mistakenly access inappropriate information, you should immediately tell your teacher or proctor. This protects you against a claim that you have intentionally violated this policy.

D. Your Rights

1. Your right to free speech applies to your communication on the internet. The school's internet access is considered a limited forum, similar to the school newspaper, and therefore, Mount Saint Dominic Academy may restrict your speech for valid educational reasons.

2. Search and Seizure

• You should expect only limited privacy in the contents of your personal files on the school system. The situation is similar to the rights you have in the privacy of your locker.
• Routine maintenance and monitoring of the school's internet/network access any lead to discovery that you have violated this policy or Federal law.
• Proctors will be able to see what is displayed on the screen  and have the right to request students to display any browsers that might be open.
• An individual search will be conducted if there is a reasonable suspicion that you have violated this policy or the law. The investigation will be reasonable and related to the suspected violation.
• Your parents have the right at any time to request to see the content of your e-mail files.

3. Due Process

• Mount Saint Dominic Academy will cooperate fully with local, state, or federal  officials in any investigation related to any illegal activities conducted through the school’s internet access.
• In the event there is a claim that you have violated this policy in the use of the school's internet access, you will be provided with a written notice of the suspected violation and an opportunity to present an explanation before a neutral administrator.
• Violation of the policy will result in restrictions on the use of the school computers and/or other disciplinary action.

E. Limitation of Liability

Mount Saint Dominic Academy makes no guarantee that the functions or the services provided by or through the school will be error-free or without defect. The school will not be responsible for any damage you may suffer, including but not limited to, loss of data or interruptions of service. The school is not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through or stored on the system. The school will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system.