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[|field based summary report standard 6.doc] Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues
 * Field Based Summary Report Standard VI**

My main project in standard 6 was addressing copyright law and the FERPA act to the parents of my athletes. I also, on a smaller scale, discussed the information with my athletes. The issue of communicating expectations to teachers, students and parents is a legal topic that affects me as a head coach. TheHighland ParkSchool districtis probably one of the last school districts to address some of the typical school issues faced in a modern day school system. For example, just last year, we finally instituted an ID system for guests and workers coming onto campus. It is not about not knowing about these issues, but rather the community’s resistance to new ideas; the idea “we have always done it that way” is alive and well in our district. With this understanding, I realized I needed to take a more proactive approach to some typical legal issues I run into in my job so as to avoid any future problems or legal concerns. “Well-crafted policies lay out expectations, define rights and responsibilities, describe procedures, and detail the remedies available if the policy is violated” (Bisssonette, 2009, p. 81). I decided to make it a goal to educate my parents and athletes on what they could or could not do as it relates to copyright law, and what information they could and could not have about other athletes on the team.

One of the educational activities I provided for my captains’ parents was a meeting in which I went over copyright law. I explained that we could not sell an end of year video of the team since it contained copyrighted music. During that same meeting, I further explained the basic concepts of the FERPA act. “Educators are obligated to protect the privacy of student records” (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 127). I explained to the parents not only that I was not allowed to discuss other swimmers’ problems, grades, medical issues or any legal issues with them, but also why it was not allowed. I addressed how they could build phone and email trees for the team by using the student directory because each parent had already given permission to release that information for school use. I also reviewed these policies at my beginning of year meeting with all parents, but I really feel it is important to address it with the captains’ parents, as booster club leaders for our team, because they can help spread the word to those who still don’t understand it. For many parents, these boundaries are difficult to accept as they view the information as critical to the success of our team. By addressing questions and concerns from the very beginning, and letting the parents know the “whys,” I find it helps many of them better understand, and not press the issue later, if I have to tell them I cannot discuss a concern they may have due to a student’s right to privacy.

I also regularly review with my athlete’s policies relating to privacy and student records. Typically, the issue arises when the team knows someone is in crisis and they really just want to help or know more about what is going on. For example, this last year we had a member of the team that had to be released due to illegal activities. In our team meeting that week, I let the team know that this person had been removed from the team, but that I would not comment any further about the subject. I also reminded them that it is my duty not to release this information about the person. Treating other with trust and respect and communicating your expectations goes a long way toward effectively building a team that follows the guidelines you set out for them.

Copyright infringement was also reviewed with my health class prior to a substance abuse unit. Typically in this unit the students download information, including music and video, to prepare and present a class PSA or similar project. I wanted them to understand that the information could be used for a class project since it was being used for educational purposes, but could not later be loaded onto u-tube, for example, as it would then be a considered copyright infringement use. Finally, when demonstrating and discussing the use of I phone apps for stress reduction, we also discussed the proper use of these apps, how to help determine if the source can be considered relatively safe, and how it relates to each student’s own individual beliefs and moral compass. I did find this discussion helped the students to better understand how technology can interrelate to our own beliefs and morals; most had not ever thought about technology from that standpoint.

References

Bissonette, Aimee M. (2009). //Cyber law: maximizing safety and minimizing risk in classrooms//. Thousand Oaks, CA.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE’s technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.