WHEREAS Minister’s Directive MD 2010-02, Directive for the Acceptable Use of Computer and Information Technology, is a complex technical document that is seldom read nor understood by parents or students, and

WHEREAS proposed drafts of a replacement Minister’s Directive being reviewed by the Minister’s IT Advisory Committee on Computer Information Technology serve only to make the document more complex and less likely to be read or understood, and,

WHEREAS the place of information technology in the classroom and in daily life has evolved significantly from the era when the “Acceptable Use Policy” was first drafted, and,

WHEREAS it is generally recognized that it is not possible to adequately describe all possible appropriate and inappropriate uses of information technology, nor to adequately describe all possible benefits and dangers of information technology use, and,

WHEREAS it is desirable to increase the adoption of information technology and to foster creative uses of technology in meeting curricular goals, not to see information technology as a threat nor a dangerous force to be artificially contained, and

WHEREAS the use of common sense and a spirit of personal and community responsibility in making decisions about the use of information technology is a skill we wish to foster in students,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the PEIHSF requests the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development replace the current “Minister’s Directive for the Acceptable Use Communication and Information Technology,” with a simple statement, to be signed by students and affirmed by parents: “I agree to use computers, the Internet and related resources in a manner that respects myself and others.”