Internet Safety

 Student Access

Guidelines for Personal Internet Security

The Internet is a great tool for research, keeping in touch with friends and family, and learning. But the Internet is also a virtual world with dangerous people. Here are some suggestions:

Internet Security for You

Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you have chatted with or exchanged Email with online.

Never call a number in response to an online chat or an Email. They may have caller ID.

Never give anyone online your real name, address, or phone number. Do not tell them where you go to school, or any of your outside activities. Do not describe yourself to them.

Never respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, or threatening. When you see such a message, report it to your service provider (e.g. AOL, etc.). You may think it is a game, but virtual chatter can get out of hand.

Use an alias for all online services. When signing onto a service or with a site, do not give out personal information. Even though these services request your address and other information, you do not have to provide it. Once you have given this information to an online service, other people may have access to it.

Never give out your user name and password to anyone -- even if they say they are from your service provider.

Never give out your parent's credit card number without their permission and with a secure connection.

Remember that people online may not be who they seem. Many Internet users transform themselves in the virtual world to play games and to trick people. Someone indicating that "she" is a "twelve-year-old girl" could actually be a forty-year-old man.

Remember, child proofing with Internet security programs does not always keep out all the "obscene" mail or obscene sites that you should not got to.

Be careful in Chat Rooms and on Bulletin Boards. Remember, everything you write, send, or receive electronically is stored and can be easily recovered. Deleting does not make it disappear.

Internet Security for your Home Computer

Use Virus protection software with Internet capability -- Norton, etc. Keep your virus protection on and you virus data files up to date.

Never download a file without your Parent's permission.

Never run an attachment from an Email message without your Parent's permission.

Never allow a remote "fix-it" service to access your computer through your modem.

Never install software that someone has copied for you.

Internet Security at School

The Dalton School takes reasonable steps to provide a safe online environment. The school subscribes to a web content filtering service that blocks the majority of inappropriate sites. If an inappropriate site is accessed at school, a technology coordinator is notified.