Limiting student emails QT57
Guideline and policy
The school can’t keep students from using email addresses they create for communications related to their student media.
Nothing in Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) or Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) overcomes the First Amendment protections students have nor the rights they have under state law.
Key points/action: Talk to the Student Press Law Center for guidance on how to respond to this.
Stance: Three points to note:
- The school is not required by CIPA or COPPA to prevent the use of these publication email address that don’t go through the official school Google email service. So long as the school can attest it’s taking appropriate measures to protect students from harm that could result via these emails (training them how to use them and how to respond to inappropriate messages, making a faculty member like the adviser accessible to the students if they have questions or problems, etc.), they will have complied with any legal obligations under those laws.
- There is no reason the school couldn’t give students on the publication staff a second email address connected to their publication role that operates under the same protocols as the students’ official school email address. This may not be a good option because of the access the school could have to publication-related messages, but it would be a way to satisfy the school’s concerns and get separate emails working more easily.
- Gmail is not the only option for free email accounts for your publication staff. If your students could work around this by creating new email addresses via another service that can be accessed from the school computers, that might be worth considering.
Reasoning/suggestions: The more challenging issue is whether the school can prevent students from accessing those email accounts on school-owned devices. Again, the SPLC is probably best able to advise you and your students,
Resource: Mark Goodman, Knight chair in Scholastic Journalism, Kent State University, September 2017.
Related: These points and other decisions about mission statement, forum status and editorial policy should be part of a Foundations Package that protects journalistically responsible student expression.
Read MoreWhat filters hide: a lesson
Title
What filters hide
Description
Students will research common net issues with filtered sites. This lesson goes with information on this SPRC link.
Summary
Students try to access several commonly banned (but legitimate) sites. They then will create interview questions for the internet gatekeeper at their school. Students could write a news-feature story on this topic. For an extension activity, students could debate the legitimacy of banned websites. Students could then write an opinion piece on the website gatekeepers
Objectives
- Students will discover what types of worthwhile sites are banned by their school district
- Students will learn the filtering software was mandated by federal legislation.
- Students will create interview questions for the person in charge of deciding whether to open the “gate”
- Students will write a story about internet filtering at their school
Common Core State Standards
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 | Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2 | Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 | Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2a | Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2b | Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.8 | Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7 | Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. |
Length
100 minutes: (two 50-minute class periods)
Materials
Computer lab and Internet access
Lesson step-by-step
Day 1
- Introduction — 5 minutes Ask students if they have ever been denied access to a website while researching at school.
Ask students to brainstorm what they were searching for at that time. Either the teacher or the students should write what students say on the board.
Additionally, ask if they know of anyone who has gone around the filtering system by means of a proxie site.
- Online readings — 20 minutes
Ask students to read the following stories and take notes on their reading. Please let them know they will be interviewing the person who is in charge of the gatekeeping at their school. Remind students they should be professional in the interview.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/education/29banned.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/apnewsbreak-web-filter-lifts-block-gay-sites-25539616
Students could also see if they can think of legitimate sites that fall under the following often blocked categories and check to see if they can access the site:
Alcohol and tobacco
Illegal gambling
Militant/extremist
Drug use
Satanic/cult
Intolerance
Gross depictions
Violence/profanity
Search engines
Sports and leisure
Sex education
Sexual acts
Full nudity
Partial/artistic nudity.
- Question generation — all but the final 10 minutes of the hour.
Have students create questions based on what they have read. Each student should have between 5-10 good questions for the press conference during the next class.
- How to act — 5 minutes
Remind students they need to be polite and courteous, but not be afraid to ask the tough questions.
Day 2
- Introduction — 5 minutes
Introduce the speaker and remind students of proper protocol for a press conference.
- Interview — remainder of the hour
Extension:
If the “gatekeeper” isn’t available, students could write an opinion piece about what they researched or a feature article on their research of blocked sites.
Read More