Loading music, playing games and looking at pornography, Oh my!

It’s hard to tell where they came from. According to administration “It just happened,” but we all know exactly why they came to be. The personal accounts on the computers here at Dysart High School that use students ID numbers as login names and passwords have been implemented to catch students doing unruly things. Last year the school had problems with students doing things against the rules, like looking at risqué photographs and downloading music.

Administration pointed out that last year that it was very difficult to catch and punish the culprits. The student would actually have to be caught in the act. However, this year things are different. This year students have to login under their own ID numbers and if any disobedient activity is taking place, then administration can trace it back to the student through their ID number.

“Personal accounts are part of responsibility,” Mr. Williams from IT goes on to explain.

Administration is ready to hold students accountable, but so far there have been no instances where students needed to be punished severely according to Mr. Bennett, Dysart High School Administrator. “So far everything is going smoothly except for some changed password problems,” Mrs. Macdannold, Dysart High School Librarian, adds. If caught breaking the rules explained in the Internet Access forms, there are many reproductions that can occur. With the first offense the student is given a warning. From there it can escalate to restricted the student from accessing the internet, or even closing their account.

Breaking these rules by downloading things ties up more than just the high school’s computer system. The computer system at the high school is connected to Dysart Elementary School and Sundown High School. Downloading things slows down the emailing process of teacher and administrators at all of these locations.

No one has needed to be punished to those extremes so far this year. “There have only been about five warnings given to students and all of which have been because of an ignorance of the rules,” Mr. Bennett stated.

It seems as though the amount of students using the accounts is about the same as last year, but, according to Rega, there are 180 kids who haven’t turned in Internet Access forms.