10 Ways to Improve Internet Safety at School
By: Sharon Woolley
When managing your school's network, you realize the importance of Internet safety and adherence to conduct rules as well as CIPA compliance regulations. You also know that kids are extremely net savvy. Schools need round-the-clock systems to ensure that the Internet is being used in a positive way for learning purposes and for enjoyment. You also need to stay current with new trends, tools, and methodologies.
In addition to establishing and enforcing guidelines for Internet use on school grounds, there are ways that educators and IT departments can help improve Internet safety and desired conduct at all times.
1. Restrict Computer "Admin" Rights
Administration rights should be restricted on school computers to prevent students or faculty from circumventing security programs and safety measures. Routinely verify that only authorized personnel have admin rights on school computers to ensure that someone can't reset a system clock or remove important software programs that could compromise network security or CIPA compliance.
2. Block Public Chat Rooms
Chat rooms can be great fun for student interaction with other students around the world, but they're also a popular playground for adults and child predators. Your school's Internet Safety policy should dictate whether students and faculty can access chat rooms and, if so, which ones are approved for at-school use. From an IT standpoint, routinely update network filter lists to ensure that forbidden chat rooms and unwanted sites cannot be accessed on school computers.
3. Stay Current with Proxy and Peer-to-Peer Sites
The Internet changes minute by minute, and kids know this. Proxy sites let them circumvent Web filters, and peer-to-peer file sharing sites let them freely distribute and share content. In your school, this could mean today's test questions and answers, compromising photos of other students, or pirated copies of movies, games, and music. IT departments must be vigilant to stay on top of blocking the latest sites, while monitoring online activity to learn which websites students are visiting.
4. Outlaw Removable Devices
Thumb drives and portable devices make it easy for students to exchange information, files, music, and content. It also makes it easy to spread compromising photos or adult content. Beyond being able to detect when removable devices are used, consider investing school-wide PC and Internet monitoring and surveillance tools that can capture granular details like which students are using them, as well as device IDs and passwords.
5. Expand Keyword Alerts to Include Chat Lingo
Chat lingo is a complex, rapidly evolving language that kids are using to abbreviate and conceal online discussions. If your IT security provides keyword alerts, expand beyond basic words like porn, bomb, or suicide, and add new terms like zerg (to gang up on someone), LMIRL (let's meet in real life) , and TAW (teachers are watching). Knowing what students are saying or concealing in their discussions and online searches can provide key insight into unwanted activity that can be stopped.
6. Get Parents Involved
Parents understand the need for Internet safety at home and at school, and they are a vital resource to help their children make better choices online. They're also a valuable set of eyes and ears to things that kids may be up to when they're not at school. Create a hotline where parents can call or text if they suspect one or more students of planning unwanted activity. Provide parents with newsletters, tips, and tools for improving Internet safety at home. Inform parents about the latest application controls and filters, and encourage them to participate in their child's online safety by monitoring activity and engaging kids in discussion when they're not in the classroom.
7. Get Students Involved
Students are also eager and willing to get involved in promoting Internet safety and increasing awareness for issues like cyberbullying, suicide, and drug addiction. There are a number of new programs, activities, and contests designed to help students tackle Internet safety and become more critical thinkers online. Explore various programs offered by Internet safety organizations, at the state and local level, as well as by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. To get the ball rolling, encourage the formation of a Youth Internet Safety Team to help drive awareness and participation among your school's student population.
8. Regularly Visit Student Profiles
You probably know who the troublemakers are, but do you know who is currently being bullied by other students? Take time to search student names to see whether they have online profiles and if they're following appropriate guidelines for conduct and ethics. Bookmark the profiles that require frequent checking and alert parents when activity raises concerns or violates school conduct. Reinforce to parents and to students that students are expected to adhere to school guidelines for Internet conduct and safety at all times.
9. Watch Twitter Trending Topics
Twitter is a powerful tool for keeping a daily pulse on social trends. Schools should be aware when concepts like "Kick a Ginger Day" are surfacing online to make appropriate plans and/or proactively communicate that such activity will not be tolerated. Learn to use the # sign (hash-tag) before a topic, like #FB and #school, to narrow your Twitter searches. Bookmark student Twitter profiles and check them regularly to stay in lockstep with what they're discussing online, including new Chat Lingo terms that may be used to conceal unwanted activity.
10. Monitor Online Activity Around the Clock
Enhance your school's security strategy by centrally monitoring everything your students do on the PC and Internet. By capturing and recording every website visited, file transferred, keystroke typed, program activity, and more, you can increase student time on task, protect kids and school networks from the dangers of the Internet, and save money on unnecessary software licensing and upgrades. Most of all, you can be sure that student safety is not being compromised, and that student conduct and CIPA compliance rules are being adhered to in a way that encourages positive Internet use among students at all times.
Sharon Woolley is a director at SpectorSoft, a worldwide leader and pioneer in the PC and Internet monitoring and surveillance software industry, www.spectorEDU.com.
