Schome Park Acceptable Use Policy

The Schome Park Acceptable Use Policy (2nd Feb 2008)

Adapted from Linden Lab's Teen Second Life 'Commandments'

This policy applies whenever you are doing anything related to the Schome Park Project, including using the schome community website, which includes the wiki, forum, profiles and Schome Park.

1. Respect everyone in the schome community

The schome community is a great place to exchange ideas and debate issues, but you should not do so in a mean or belittling way. You should never use derogatory or demeaning language, images, or actions against another community member because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, sexual preference, disability, etc..

2. Stay anonymous

We want people on the Schome Park Project to enjoy a safe online environment. Enjoying a safe Second Life means you should never reveal anything about your First Life that could allow someone to locate you offline. Things you should never tell anyone while you’re in any part of the schome community website include: your real family name, your parents’ or carers' names, your home address, your phone/mobile numbers, other contact details, or anything that shows what you look like in real life such as a photo, video or webcam link.

3. Keep your password to yourself

It’s important to keep your password a secret, even from your very best friends and your siblings (sharing it with your parents/carers is okay). If you give your password to someone they will have access to all your account information and your inventory items – and you’ll be held responsible for anything they do while using your account.

4. Respect peoples' privacy

People on Schome Park and elsewhere within the schome community are entitled to a certain degree of privacy. Sharing personal information about others – including their real-world location – is a violation of their privacy. Remotely monitoring conversations, using scripts which spy on others without their knowledge, posting/sharing chat logs, extracts from email messages or 'Personal Messages' without consent are all prohibited. Staff have sensors that monitor activity on Schome Park and usage data for other parts of the schome community website is also automatically collected. Staff will be logging conversations with your agreement. Anyone who is logging conversations in Schome Park should display a 'Logging chat' sign above their avatar. You can ask for any or all of your contributions to a conversation not to be included as part of the project's research data.

5. Keep it clean

All content, communication, and behaviour in the Schome Park Project should follow "PG" guidelines. This means no strong vulgar language or expletives, no nudity or sexual content, and no depictions of sex, violence or illegal drugs. This rule applies to your texture uploads, places, groups, events and wiki, forum and any other communications. Exceptions to this rule may be agreed by the Project Director in the case of material needed for educational purposes.

6. Don’t harass people

Harassment is not allowed within the schome community. Harassment can take many forms. Generally what we mean by this is that you should never communicate or behave in an offensive, intimidating, or threatening way toward anyone else. (If someone asks you to stop doing something that may be an indication that what you are doing is inappropriate – think about how it feels from their perspective.)

7. Don’t assault

You might think that assault isn't relevant in a virtual environment, in chat or in forums - but it is. You should never make or use objects to single out or target other people in a way that takes the fun out of their Second Life or involvement in the schome community. (For example, shooting somebody with a 'toy gun' is a form of assault if they do not wish to be shot at! You should assume that people do not wish to be shot at or pushed around unless they have explicitly stated that they are happy for you to do so.)

8. Don’t disturb the peace

Disrupting scheduled events, repeated spamming or undesired advertising, playing sounds over and over, creating following or self-spawning items, or other objects that intentionally slow server performance or inhibit other people’s ability to enjoy Schome Park are examples of disturbing the peace. This includes deliberately messing up information within the wiki or posting inappropriately in the forum.

9. Don’t overdo it

Participants should make use of Schome Park in a way that doesn't conflict with normal commitments such as homework and getting enough sleep. Most activities and group sessions are scheduled to last an hour. Schome Park has a limit of 80 people on the islands, so staying for an unsuitable amount of time might mean that someone else is losing out or can't get into an activity they've signed up for.

10. Use of your Schome Park avatar

Schome Park is designed as a group of secure, closed islands. You may only use your Schome Park avatar on Schome Park and should never attempt to use your Schome Park avatar to access any other part of Second Life. The only exception to this is if you are participating in an official visit which is organised and supervised by a member of Schome Park staff.

11. Adhering to community rules

It may be necessary from time to time for the community to implement specific rules that complement the general rules set out within this policy. Normal practice will be that any change in the rules will be discussed within the Community Liaison board in the forum. However it is recognized that, on rare occasions (eg relating to urgent safety issues) the Project Director (or his representative) will make decisions on behalf of the community. You must abide by any such rule changes, once they have been publicised on the Schome Community website by the Project Director (or his representative).

Here’s what will happen if you break the rules

Violations of the Schome community standards outlined in this Acceptable Use Policy will normally be discussed in the Schome forum, where everyone involved will be invited to put their point of view. A first offence is likely to result in a Warning. If you continue to break the rules you will receive an Account Strike and a Suspension, which means you’ll be temporarily prevented from taking part in the schome community website (including Schome Park). We’ll let you know when you have received an Account Strike by sending you a Personal Message in the forum or an email. Future rule violations are likely to mean that your access to the schome community website will be removed for a longer period of time or even permanently. If you use the schome community website (including Teen Second Life) to participate in anything illegal you will be removed from the Schome Park Project immediately.

Reporting abuse

You should report violations of this Acceptable Use Policy by emailing schome-sl-help@open.ac.uk

Every report will be thoroughly investigated.

If you need immediate assistance while in world, ask any of the staff on Schome Park or, in an emergency, hit the Help button within Schome Park. You can also ask for help in the forum - using the Help with Second Life board