High school Internet stations ban online games, other sites

MANILA, Philippines – Multi-player online role-playing games, social networking sites, and pornography are officially banned on public high school Internet stations.

The Department of Education has issued DepEd Order No. 105 series of 2009 prohibiting the access, archiving, printing and distribution of materials that have offensive and subversive content using the school’s network.

Teachers and students will also be monitored closely when using the school Internet.

“Teachers and students have no right to ownership or expectation of personal privacy as to their Internet usage,” Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said.

Internet content considered offensive are text or images that contain pornography, profanity, racial slurs, gender-discrimination, age-discrimination, and affront to mental or physical disability.

Subversive content is identified as web materials that advocate the overthrow of governments by force and violence, treason, sedition, sabotage, espionage, or acts of terrorism; and organization sites seeking support for such.

Under the order, school network administrators should configure their proxy servers and switch routers to block prohibited sites.

Internet in public schools shall be used exclusively for study, research, and official school activities.

School officials are prohibited from using the school Internet for personal business, computer games, gambling, or political campaigns. –Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star)