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Louisa's Students to Get E-Mail

Posted on: Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 03:01 CDT

This coming school year, Louisa County students, like a growing number around the state and nation, will be provided e-mail accounts - safeguarded by profanity filters.

The e-mail system for the approximate 2,500 middle and high school students is expected to improve communications between students and teachers and provide students with an alternate way to get homework and other information, said Bruno Sestito, director of technology for the county school system.

"Students can send papers to teachers even when they're sick," Sestito said. "They can find out about homework. . . . Teachers can even create a chat room for discussions on a topic.

There's another plus too.

"People are communicating more and more through e-mail," he said. "Students will have to learn how to write e-mails appropriately. It's a different form of writing."

Sestito noted that college students often communicate and find out important information from professors predominantly through e- mail.

Though the state Department of Education doesn't keep track of the number of school systems with student e-mail systems, it's a growing trend, officials said.

The Harrisonburg school system, for example, has allowed students at its high school to use its internal e-mail system for three years, said D.D. Dawson, the director of business and technology for the school system.

But precautions have to be taken. School Center, a company based in Carbondale, Ill., is hosting the e-mail system for Louisa and is also providing a profanity filter with 250 banned words.

The banned words are either curse words or deal with sex acts.

Numerous variations in spelling of the banned words are included in the list.

If a student attempts to send an e-mail with the banned word, it will instead go to a designated administrator for review, Sestito said. "If there's a report of e-mail misuse, we can track the usage. . . . The 250 words are a base list. We can add or delete words from the list."

Sestito said students can use the e-mail program only after signing a document agreeing to follow the school's policy, which allows administrators to monitor the e-mail. "It's not an option," he said.

Sestito said misuse of the e-mail program "will be dealt with appropriately. It's all part of growing up."

Dawson said the Harrisonburg school system came up with its own list of banned words.

"That was an interesting time," she said. "But we've not had a bit of problem with the students on this. Our students appreciate the system."

Clint Lewis, a sales representative with School Center, said his company provides services, including web-hosting, to more 3,000 school districts in the country, including 25 in Virginia.

Though the use by students of school-based e-mails "is not too unique, it's definitely another step to put computers in the hands of kids," Lewis said.

Source: Richmond Times - Dispatch

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