Acceptable Use Policies

Codes of Conduct

AUPs extend traditional codes of conduct to electronic media and serve to educate members of school communities about appropriate conduct in cyberspace. AUPs should not be enacted merely for disciplinary monitoring and punishment. The best AUPs are implemented with education in mind, allowing computer users to learn about technology generally and to understand their rights and responsibilities as well as the rights and responsibilities of others.

AUPs should offer sets of “do's” and “don'ts” for computer users. At a minimum, AUPs should prohibit use of the Internet for non-school-related activities and note, strongly, a prohibition of computer use for personal business that might be a professional conflict of interest for the user. In addition, AUPs should prohibit malice, recklessness, invasion of privacy, theft, harassment, bullying, copyright infringement, lewd and vulgar expression (in words, pictures, videos, or sound), and violation of other applicable laws, regulations, or institutional policies.

Like any code of conduct, AUPs face legal challenges from multiple perspectives: First Amendment freedom of expression, Fourteenth Amendment due process, Fourth Amendment privacy, other privacy claims, and copyright, as well as issues of harassment, bullying (including cyberbullying), and liability. For the most part, the law that applies to the face-to-face school community also applies to the cyberspace community, making the law related to AUPs not all that different, despite the significant difference in medium and forum.

Related Legal Cases

Not surprisingly, school officials retain authority over the electronic forums that they provide for students and staff. So, while students and staff do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of expression at the schoolhouse gate” (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 1969, p. 506), AUPs generally prohibit personal speech and other conduct that disrupts the rights of others or materially and substantially interferes with the work of the school. The most applicable First Amendment principles that apply to the enforcement of AUPs are those prohibiting lewd and vulgar expression, including that of a sexual nature (Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 1986) and those permitting school officials to exercise editorial control over the content and style of student and staff expression in school-sponsored activities such as school district Web sites or online newspapers (see Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 1988). School officials are permitted and encouraged to install filtering software on their computers to prevent computer users from accessing unwanted material. Such software does not violate the free speech rights of students, staff, and visitors.

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