Online Safety

STS students will be educated about Internet safety. While the network at Saint Theresa is a safe, filtered place to explore, students will have access to unsupervised, un-filtered Internet access at other computers. Common sense and a responsible user will keep themselves safe from the vulnerabilities of the Internet.

While no filtering software can guarantee complete safety, we do teach students to be responsible users of web material and to report and leave sites that are deemed unacceptable or inappropriate.

The links to the right are to popular Internet safety organizations. Parents are invited to check out these sites as they will help you understand, navigate, and set limits on your students.

Internet Safety Topics will be covered throughout the course of each Saint Theresa students' technology class as part of the technology curriculum.

Filtering Internet at Home

While students are at school, and using the school wireless and Internet, the websites they visit are filtered to reduce the risk of visiting a website with obscene images and material.

It is possible for you to set-up your internet at home to do the same. One of thebest tools available is OpenDNS. Instructions are available for filtering your traffic at home [link]. Free and paid options are available.

Federal Communication Commission

Children Internet Protection Act (CIPA).... Mandated federal law regarding internet safety for students while at school. Saint Theresa follows these policies to the strictest. We employ even higher security measures through content filtering, web access policies, and email access policies.

Protecting Children's Privacy

Other Internet Safety Links

STUDENT PASSWORD HELP

Students who feel their accounts have been compromised shouldIMMEDIATELY reset their password. They can complete this by logging into their account and following the password reset directions.

If they cannot access their account, or do not want to access their account, they can also contact the School Office during school hours or mtuntland@sttheresaschool.com during non-school hours for assistance. STS Technology administrators are able to remotely monitor email during non-school hours and can usually assist with passwords and security issues within six hours.

IN THE EVENT OF A COMPROMISED ACCOUNT, REPORT DIRECTLY TO THE SCHOOL AND NOT VIA A HELP TICKET. HELP TICKETS TAKE LONGER TO PROCESS WHEN SCHOOL IS NOT IN SESSION.

PASSWORD TIPS FROM GOOGLE:

https://accounts.google.com/PasswordHelp

How safe is your password?

The first step in protecting your online privacy is creating a safe password - i.e. one that a computer program or persistent individual won't easily be able to guess in a short period of time. To help you choose a secure password, we've created a feature that lets you know visually how safe your password is as soon as you create it.

Tips for creating a secure password:

Include punctuation marks and/or numbers.
Mix capital and lowercase letters.
Include similar looking substitutions, such as the number zero for the letter 'O' or '$' for the letter 'S'.
Create a unique acronym.
Include phonetic replacements, such as 'Luv 2 Laf' for 'Love to Laugh'.

Things to avoid:

Don't reuse passwords for multiple important accounts, such as Gmail and online banking.
Don't use a password that is listed as an example of how to pick a good password.
Don't use a password that contains personal information (name, birth date, etc.)
Don't use words or acronyms that can be found in a dictionary.
Don't use keyboard patterns (asdf) or sequential numbers (1234).
Don't make your password all numbers, uppercase letters or lowercase letters.
Don't use repeating characters (aa11).

Tips for keeping your password secure:

Never tell your password to anyone (this includes significant others, roommates, parrots, etc.).
Never write your password down.
Never send your password by email.
Periodically test your current password and change it to a new one.

INTERNET SAFETY

Students will be educated about Internet safety. While the network at STS is a safe, filtered place to explore, students will have access to unsupervised, un-filtered Internet access at other computers. Common sense and a responsible user will keep themselves safe from the vulnerabilities of the Internet.