JUA Technology Guidelines

The content you create and share with the world increasingly defines you. The internet isn’t just something to stay safe from, it’s also something to grab onto with both hands and shape to your benefit and the benefit of society.

The following guidelines are meant to help guide you to make meaningful, powerful and appropriate content while also keeping you safe.

Have something to say.
Having ideas and wondering things is perhaps the most powerful thing you can learn to do. Talking about your ideas in a public forum forces your ideas to grow, evolve and get better. Your ideas matter.

Stand on the shoulders of giants.
You have access to literally millions of other ideas. Read them, use them, be informed by them. Most critically - give people credit when you are influenced by them! Not only is stealing other people’s ideas, words and images a form of academic dishonesty it’s also simply wrong. Provide a link to the original content and use the author’s name whenever possible.

Share your opinion.
Remember, what you have to say matters. Read the work of others and let them know what you think! When sharing your ideas, commenting on others and posting content, keep it clean. Use normal language that you would be fine in a public forum like school meeting. The same thing goes for images, audio and images. Disagreements are central to growing your ideas, but don’t attack anyone personally.

Be safe.
There are creeps online just like in the real world. Don’t publicly post anything you wouldn’t tell a stranger on the street. Opinions and ideas belong in a public forum, your last name, passwords or phone number do not! In particular do not post the location of our lodging while we are in Boston. Use only your first name and last initial while blogging.

Or else.
Not following these guidelines might have a number of consequences. At least you might create content not worth attaching your name to, or you might make a fool of yourself in a widely public forum. At worst you could endanger yourself or others. If what you do is extremely disrespectful or reflects very poorly on New Hampton School it will be treated as a major school rule violation.