School, library Internet policies vary and often put parents in
charge
After school junior high and high school students occupy many at
computers in the Gilroy public library, many of which have Internet
access. The same holds true for school libraries around the region.
Parents might assume that adults supervising these places are
keeping on eye on kids. But when it comes to surfing the Web,
policies vary from site to site and many put the responsibility on
parents.
The Santa Clara County and San Benito County libraries adopted
Internet policies for their sites in 1998, when they first
installed computers with online access in their facilities. The two
counties have slight variations in their policy, but each library
system maintains that parents should be responsible for what their
children view at their facilities, whether it is books, magazines
or Websites.
School, library Internet policies vary and often put parents in charge
After school junior high and high school students occupy many at computers in the Gilroy public library, many of which have Internet access. The same holds true for school libraries around the region. Parents might assume that adults supervising these places are keeping on eye on kids. But when it comes to surfing the Web, policies vary from site to site and many put the responsibility on parents.
The Santa Clara County and San Benito County libraries adopted Internet policies for their sites in 1998, when they first installed computers with online access in their facilities. The two counties have slight variations in their policy, but each library system maintains that parents should be responsible for what their children view at their facilities, whether it is books, magazines or Websites.
“Like every other item here, there are no age limits,” said Sally Leete, an adult program librarian at the Gilroy library. “We don’t monitor it. That’s a family responsibility.”
In the children’s section, the computers have filtered access so sites with indecent or inappropriate material cannot be viewed.
“They have to be a child under 15,” Leete said. “We want to make sure kids have a fair chance of using the computers.”
In the adult area of the library, patrons choose how they would like to surf the Web.
“Adult patrons have the option of using filters or not using them,” Leete said. “They get to decide when they get onto the computer.”
Many times the patrons using the Internet in that part of the library are not adults, but kids as young as 13. Jimmy, a high school sophomore, has been spending his days after school at the library since he was in middle school. Most days, he signs up to use the Internet for a stint and most days his mother isn’t there to see what he is doing online.
Leete suggested parents familiarize themselves with the Internet policy, which can be viewed online at the Santa Clara County Library Website. The library also provides handouts for families on Internet safety and has volunteers to help patrons while they are online. The San Benito County Free Library has their Internet policy posted online, as well.
The policy for San Benito states, “parents or legal guardians are responsible for their minor children’s use of the Internet.” However, a parent or legal guardian must register patrons under 18, when they use the Internet at the library for the first time. At that time, the adult decides if the child may have online access at the library without filters.
Guidelines for Internet use vary when it comes to local schools. Administrators at a Hollister’s Sacred Heart Parish School, have their students and parents sign an Internet agreement form at the beginning of every year.
“It informs them that children can access the Internet and that it is used as a teaching tool,” said Gayla Jurevich, the school’s technology coordinator. “They are not allowed to freely surf the Internet. They have guidelines, such as no looking at offensive pictures, no using e-mail or other personal accounts.”
The students always visit the lab when Jurevich and a teacher are present so they can monitor what the students are doing. With younger grades, Jurevich includes links to the sites that will be used in the day’s lessons from the school’s homepage.
“We review [rules] at the beginning of the year,” Jurevich said. “We also utilize a curriculum … that talks about proper Internet usage, e-mail bullying and safety with the Internet.”
The school rarely has a problem with students misusing the Internet at while in the lab and the punishment if they did would be harsh.
“They lose their privilege to use the lab because it is a privilege,” Jurevich said. “On the assignments they miss, they would get a failing grade.”
Gilroy Unified schools have an Internet agreement that is sent home to parents before students are allowed to use computers on campus, whether they are in fourth grade or middle school. While the GUSD cell phone policy is posted online, a comprehensive Internet policy for the school district could not be found on the Web and administrators were hard pressed to find a copy of the form by press time.
Regardless of the policy, students who stop by the school library at Gilroy High School often spend their afternoons updating myspace.com pages, checking yahoo or gmail e-mail accounts and doing most everything but their homework.
If parents are unclear about the type of Internet access their children have at school or what type of supervision, if any, is provided, they should contact their child’s teacher or principal.
