What constitutes acceptable use?

Most, if not all, school districts have implemented a clearly written acceptable use policy regarding the use of technology for educational purposes.  This is thought to be one of the most important documents created and implemented by districts since it governs how students and employees can use technology for educational purposes within the school district.  The policies also protect the school district from liabilities while students and employees are accessing the network to access the internet.

Let's think about what really constitutes acceptable use.  Is it acceptable for employees (teachers) to shop for non-educational items during working hours and have the items delivered to the job?  Is it acceptable for students to purchase pizza online during school hours and have it delivered for lunch?  Why is it then acceptable for teachers to order pizza online during school hours and give it to their students for lunch?  Both scenarios are unrelated to education and both are identified in a district AUP, yet one is acceptable while the other is not.  So how do we rationalize this double standard to students?  Why do we accept this double standard from adult teachers?

The guidelines in a written AUP should always be rationalized to support the academic improvement of students as well as the professional improvement of teachers.  We are educators who are in the business of educating our students and improving our professionalism while utilizing the networks of the school district that employs us and educates us.  Teachers and students must always realize that using the school district's network demands them to behave according to the established rules.  Prior to accessing the district's network, be sure to review the AUP and ask pertinent questions of the district if and when an AUP policy guideline deems questionable in relation to the goal of increasing student academic achievement and teacher professionalism.