{"id":1887,"date":"2025-05-20T14:16:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T20:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.washk12.org\/tech\/?page_id=1887"},"modified":"2025-05-20T14:28:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T20:28:33","slug":"internet-safety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.washk12.org\/tech\/internet-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

General Internet Safety<\/h1>\n
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TODAY\u2019S CONNECTED WORLD<\/h3>\n

According the United Nations Human Rights Council, access to the Internet is now considered to be a worldwide basic human right.\u00a0 President Obama stated \u201ctoday, high speed broadband is not a luxury, it\u2019s a necessity.\u201d\u00a0 Our children are growin-lineing up in a connected world, and preparing them for that world is an absolutely essential part of education.<\/p>\n

The Internet is the largest distribution network for advertising and purchasing of products and services that are both physically and\/or digitally delivered.\u00a0 The Internet contains roughly 50 Petabytes (50,000 Terabytes) of RAW UNFILTERED information.<\/p>\n

Because of this Internet safety is a critical part of teaching students to use technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT DO?<\/h3>\n

Washington County School District uses a layered approach to filtering that combines prevention with education and remediation.\u00a0 With prevention we use technology based filters and supervision to prevent students from accessing inappropriate content online.\u00a0 With education and remediation we teach students to use the Internet appropriately and responsibly.\u00a0 Internet safety and ethical use is an integrated part in classes taught throughout Washington County School District\u2019s schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WHAT RESOURCES DOES THE DISTRICT PROVIDE CONCERNING EDUCATING STUDENTS ON SAFE INTERNET\u00a0USE AND DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP?<\/h3>\n

These principles are instilled in our children starting at an early age in our elementary labs, where lab aides teach internet safety, privacy and security to all elementary students each year.\u00a0 Students continue through their internet safety education all the way into the graduation required Computer Technology course taught in our secondary schools.\u00a0 We know that teaching kids to use the internet appropriately and responsibly is a critical skill that they will need for the rest of their life.<\/p>\n

Many resources to help teach these concepts can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.netsafeutah.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

We also provide extensive educational materials to teachers to be used throughout K-12 that educate students on digital citizenship.\u00a0 We encourage teachers to integrate these digital citizenship lessons into their regular routine as they use technology in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition many of our schools also take advantage of White Ribbon Week and other digital citizenship programs.<\/p>\n

Washington County School District acknowledges that technology based filters are not always effective at eliminating harmful content and due to this, Washington County School District uses a combination of technological means and supervisory means to protect students from harmful online content.\u00a0 To that end, Washington County School District has adopted the 70\/30 Rule of Internet Content Filtering.<\/p>\n

70\/30 RULE OF INTERNET CONTENT FILTERING<\/h3>\n

Washington County School District has adopted the 70\/30 Rule of Internet Content Filtering.\u00a0 A concept originally developed by Jeremy Cox \u00a0and presented at the 2015 SAINTCON (https:\/\/saintcon.org<\/a>) Conference (https:\/\/youtu.be\/32wsQ5VXwWo<\/a>) by the UtahSAINT Organization (https:\/\/utahsaint.org<\/a>). \u00a0<\/p>\n

The 70\/30 Rule of Internet Content Filtering states that students are simply not safe online when only technology measures are used to prevent access to harmful content.\u00a0 This is due to the technical limitations of filtering.\u00a0 As the demand for more security and privacy on the Internet increases, the natural effect of the resulting technological changes directly impairs our ability to filter.\u00a0 The rule of thumb is that 70% of internet content filtering is supervision based, and 30% is technology based.\u00a0 By adhering to the 70\/30 rule of internet content filtering the likelihood that a student will be exposed to harmful content is severely reduced.<\/p>\n

The concept is simplified and explained in this video:<\/p>\n