SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
The mission of the West High School Library supports life-long learning, encourages intellectual curiosity, and promotes information literacy, while providing access to the resources students need for success in the 21st century.
In keeping with this mission, the West High School Library uses and grants student access to various social media websites. Social media is defined as an online application or website that allows users to create and share information. Such social media include blogs, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking websites. Specific examples are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Flickr, Wikipedia, YouTube, Blogger, and Wordpress, among others.
Use of these social media resources provides students with the information literacy skills that will be required in the 21st century workplace and world. In order to ensure fluency in these skills, the West High School Library is dedicated to instructing students about the safe and effective use of these resources and to guiding students towards becoming independent users and communicators.
When using social media resources, individuals should consider the following guidelines:
• Use good judgment: Think about the image you wish to convey about yourself when you’re posting to social networks and social media sites. Remember that what you post will be viewed and stored permanently online once you publish it. Also, never post personal information, such as an address or phone number, for public viewing.
• Avoid online arguments: If you have a difference of opinion with someone online or wish to post about a controversial matter, you must take care to do so in an appropriate manner. Voice your opinion, but don’t use social media for personal attacks or inflammatory arguments.
• Be respectful: Do not publish private information about others. Let others decide what information they wish to share about themselves.
• Be responsible: Post accurate information. Never post any comment or other information that could be libelous. Remember that what you post is not private, and, ultimately, you are responsible for everything you publish to a social networking site.
Inappropriate publishing to social media resources while using them at West High School will result in disciplinary consequences, just as any other infraction of school rules would.
When using social media on school computers, the posting of any of the following content could result in the loss of social media privileges:
— Obscene or racist remarks
— Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language
— Private, personal information published without another’s consent
— Hyperlinks to obscene material
— Potentially libelous statements
— Photos or other images that fall into any of the above categories
