ST. NICHOLAS ACADEMY OF CASTILLEJOS, INC.

Castillejos, Zambales

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY (Staff)

I. Purpose

St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. recognizes that the internet provides unique
opportunities to participate in interactive in discussions and share information on particular
topics using a wide variety of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest.
Tumblr, Instagram, blogs and wikis. However, employee’s use of social media can pose risk to
St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc.’s confidential and proprietary information, reputation
and brands, can expose the school to discrimination and harassment claims and can
jeopardize the school’s compliance with business rules and laws.

To minimize these legal risks, to avoid loss of productivity and distraction from employees’ job
performance and to ensure that the school’s IT resources and communications systems are
used appropriately as explained below. St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. expects its
employees to adhere to the following guidelines and rules.

II. Compliance with Related Policies and Agreement

All of St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc.’s other policies that may apply to social media
use remain in full force and effect. Employees should always adhere to them when using social
media. In particular, the following policies should be kept in mind:

 Data Privacy Policy

 Data Breach Policy
 Confidentiality Policy

Social media should never be used in any way that violates any other school’s policies or
employee obligations. If your social media activity would violate any of St. Nicholas Academy
of Castillejos, Inc. policies in another forum, it will also violate them in an online forum.

Employees who violate the school’s policies may be subject to discipline, up to and including
termination of employment.

III. Personal Use of Social Media

Personal use of social media is never permitted on working time by means of the school’s
computers, networks and other IT resources and communications systems.

IV. No Expectation of Privacy

All contents of St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. IT resources and communications
systems are the property of the school. Therefore, employees should have no expectation of
privacy whatsoever in any message, files, data, document, facsimile, telephone conversation,
social media post, email or any other kind of information and communications transmitted to ,
received or printed from, or stored or recorded on the school’s electronic information and
communications systems.
You are expressly advised that in order to prevent misuse, St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos,
Inc. reserves the right to monitor and review every employee’s activity using the school’s IT
resources and communications systems, including but not limited to, social media postings and
activities, and you consent to such monitoring by your acknowledgement of this policy and
your use of such resources and systems. This might include, without limitation, the monitoring,
accessing, recording, disclosing, inspecting, reviewing, and printing of transactions, messages,
communications, postings, logins, recording and other uses of the systems.
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Castillejos, Zambales

The St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. also may store copies of such data or
communications for a period of time after they are created, and may delete such copies from
time to time without notice.

Do not use the school’s IT resources and communications system for any matter that you
desire to be kept private or confidential from the school.

V. Respect Intellectual property and Confidential Information

The school’s Confidential Agreement/Employee Handbook, restricts employees’ use and

disclosure of the school’s trade secrets, confidential information, intellectual property and
personal information of individuals. You should treat personal and sensitive information relating
to students and individuals as confidential. Do not do anything to jeopardize or unwittingly
disclose them through your use of social media.

VI. Guidelines for Employees’ Responsible Use of Social Media

The above material covers specific rules, policies and contractual obligations that employees
must follow in using social media, whether for personal or business purposes, in consideration
of their employment and subject to discipline for violations.

The following sanctions of the policy provide employees with common-sense guidelines and
recommendations for using social media responsively and safely, in the best interests of the
school. These guidelines reflect the “duty of loyalty” all employees owe their employers, and
are intended to add to, not contradict, limit or replace, applicable mandatory rules, policies,
legal requirements, legal prohibitions and contractual obligations.

i. Protect the school’s goodwill and reputation. You are personally responsible for
what you communicate in social media. Remember that what you publish might
be available to be read by the masses for a long time. Keep this in mind before
you post content.
ii. Make it clear in your social activity that you are speaking on your own behalf.
Write in the first person and use your personal e-mail address when you
communicating via social media.
iii. If you disclose your affiliation as an employee of the school, it is recommended
that you include a disclaimer that your views do not represent those of your
employer. For example, consider such language as” the views in this posting
reflect my personal views and do not represent the views of my employer”.
iv. Use good judgment about what you post and remember that anything you say
can reflect on the school, even if you do include a disclaimer. Always strive to be
accurate your communications about St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc.
and remember that your statements have the potential to result in liability for you
or the school. St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. encourages
professionalism and honesty in social media and other communications.
v. Respect and comply with terms of use of all sites you visit. Do not expose
yourself or the school to legal risk by using a social media site in violation of its
terms of use. Review the terms of use of all social media sites you visit and
ensure your use complies with them.
vi. Respect Others. In addition, with complying with the school’s mandatory policies,
to not post, or express a viewpoint on others’ posts such as by liking a “Facebook
post”, anything that the school’s students, clients, partners, suppliers, would find
offensive, including ethnic slurs, sexist, comments, discriminatory comments,
profanity, abusive language or obscenity, or that is maliciously false.
vii. Employees should refrain from trying to connect with their students on social
media sites (for example, making friend requests on Facebook).
 ST. NICHOLAS ACADEMY OF CASTILLEJOS, INC.
Castillejos, Zambales

Acknowledgement of Receipt and Review

I, ___________________________ (employee name), acknowledge that on ______________

(date), I received and read a copy of the school’s Social Media Policy dated on _________ and
understand that it is my responsibility to be familiar with and abide by its terms. I understand
that the information in this policy is intended to help the St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos,
Inc. employees to work together effectively on assigned job responsibilities.

Name: ___________________________

Signature: _________________________
 ST. NICHOLAS ACADEMY OF CASTILLEJOS, INC.
Castillejos, Zambales

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY (Students and Parents)

I. Introduction

The social media platform is an integral part in the 21 st century and offers opportunities for the
St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. community to connect and communicate, to use for
teaching and learning, and to engage a wide range of audiences and stakeholders. It is
important that we are able to use technologies and services effectively and flexibly, and
consider the potential impact on the schools’ reputation.

This policy provides the students with guidance around the use of social media platforms and
advises school leadership on how to deal with potential inappropriate use of social networking
applications. This policy also respects the individual’s right to freedom of expression and is not
a form of censorship.

II. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to:
i. Encourage good practice and promote the safe, sensible and effective use of
social media.
ii. Encourage the safe and sensible use of social media by students, staff and
parents.
iii. Inform the students on school requirements and expectations regarding the use
of social media platforms in both educational and personal purposes.
iv. Ensure the safety of the students, staff and parents from the negative effects of
social networking sites/applications.
v. Safeguard the reputation of the school from unwarranted abuse of social media.
vi. Define the responsibilities of students as users of the school’s social media
accounts.
vii. Outline channels for addressing issues or concerns.

III. Definition of Terms

Social media is the term commonly used for a range of websites and apps that allow
users to directly interact with one another. This takes many forms such as video and
photo sharing websites such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. For the purposes of
this policy, the term social media is also being extended to include gaming platforms
including Roblox and Minecraft. Most commonly, people interact with one another
through websites such as Facebook and Twitter. The school itself has its own Facebook
page, Hotmail account, and Gmail account. The terminology Social Media is not
exhaustive and also applies to the use of communication technologies such as mobile
phones, cameras, tablets or other handheld devices and any other emerging forms of
communication technologies

IV. Scope
This policy applies to social media communications made both on public and private
forums by St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. students. Students should be aware
that posts added to public forums can be viewed by the public from the date of
publication.

The school’s use of social media

The school recognizes that social media is another platform by which it can
communicate with the parent body. All members of the St. Nicholas Academy of
 ST. NICHOLAS ACADEMY OF CASTILLEJOS, INC.
Castillejos, Zambales

Castillejos, Inc. community will be encouraged to engage in social media in a positive,

safe and responsible manner at all times.

The school runs the following social media accounts:

Facebook
Gmail
Hotmail
Messenger

The school’s social media accounts can be used to communicate the following:

 Pictures and details of a particular event including, but not limited to, a trip,
sporting event, lesson or whole school day.
 Celebrating the achievements of a class, group or individual children in relation to
the life of the school.
 Advertising an upcoming event at the school such as a house day, school play, or
parents’ evening.
 The sharing of key information in relation to the school, such as a school closure.
 The sharing of external events or activities that will contribute to the continued
education of the pupils in attendance at St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc.
 Give urgent news updates to parents e.g. extreme weather/school closures.
 Provide links to other websites or Facebook sites if deemed appropriate by the
school.
 Increasing parental engagement.
 Marketing the school with the intention of selling outsourceable services.

It will be taken into account that communications posted on this page will not reach all
parents so important information will still be shared with parents using the existing
approaches (namely email, text messaging and the school website).

V. Guidelines Statement
Students using social media should be mindful of the following legal risks and acts in
particular:

 Libel: Public and malicious imputation of a crime, vice or defect, real or

imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or circumstance tending to
cause dishonor, discredit or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to
malign the memory of one who is dead (Art. 353, Revised Penal Code and
Cyber Crime Law)
Ex. Posting on social media stating/ associating an individual with crimes like
stealing, cheating, taking drugs. Imputing or destroying the reputation of
others.
 Harassment: subjecting someone to a course of conduct that causes them
distress or alarm.
Ex. Stalking, trolling, cyber-bullying (refer to Lasallian Students’ Formation
Handbook)
 Intellectual Property Infringement: posting content which copies a
substantial part of a work protected by copyright (refer to Intellectual
Property Law)
Ex. Claiming other people’s work as your own, not citing the sources,
plagiarism
 Data Privacy Infringement: posting personal information of others without
their consent (refer to LSGH Data Privacy Policy/Manual)
Ex. Posting classmates’ personal information in the social media like name,
images, mobile numbers and other sensitive information without permission
 ST. NICHOLAS ACADEMY OF CASTILLEJOS, INC.
Castillejos, Zambales

 Breach of Confidence: unauthorized posting of confidential information

Ex. Posting on social media confidential information like violation report and
other intervention report, sharing of online platform links and the like.

Students and personnel must familiarize themselves with the confidentiality rules of the
school and other laws but not limited to the following:

● Cybercrime Law of 2012(RA 10175)

● Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173)
● Intellectual Property Code (RA 8293)

Other relevant policies and guidelines of the school that are applicable to social
media accounts are: Data Privacy Policy, Student Conduct and Discipline as
found in the Students’ Handbook.
This policy forms part of the school’s contractual requirements with the students
as part of the Students’ Handbook.

Appropriate use of Students

 Students should be mindful of how their statements, views or posts appear
online. They are reminded that the public, school admissions officers, future
employers, industry contacts and other school stakeholders may view their
posts and these may have a negative impact on their reputation, reputation
of others and reputation of the school. They must be aware of the
permanence of anything posted on line, the implications of their post and the
corresponding rule/policy that the post has violated.

 There are proper venues for any complaints or disclosure malpractice,

wrongdoing, impropriety involving the school and the members of the school
community. These can be directed to the proper office as the case may be. For
any concern, complain, instead of posting it in the social media, these can be
discussed with the teachers, counselors or school administrators.

 It is recommended that official SNACI Social Media platforms can be a venue of

school announcements, in addition to the Nicholasian Website.

 If students post on their personal social media accounts, it is understood that

the views expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the
school.

 All students should consider what they are posting on their individual
accounts. The school does not actively monitor individual personnel’ or
students’ social media accounts. However, if a concern is raised regarding
content posted on student’s social media account and the post is considered
to be a violation as provided in the student’s handbook related to the use of
social media platforms or primary affects the holistic formation of students and
the good reputation of SNACI, the School has, through its representatives, the
right to request or require, as the case maybe, the removal of inappropriate
content. In addition, the matter may be addressed through the School’s
Disciplinary Procedure. Serious breaches may constitute serious misconduct and
may be ground for appropriate disciplinary action with corresponding intervention
from the SNACI Student’s Handbook.

Use of Social Media of Parents/Guardians

 Positive contributions to the School Social Media, such as Twitter, are welcomed.
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 Any concerns or issues about the school, its pupils or staff should be expressed
directly to the school and not be voiced on social media.

 Parents must obtain permission before posting pictures that contain other
parents
or their children, unless sharing or liking a post from the school's official social
media account.

 If parents become aware of inappropriate use of social media by their own or

other people’s children, they should contact the school so that the school can
work with the parents to educate young people on safe and appropriate
behaviour.

 If parents become aware of the inappropriate use of social media by other

parents or school staff, they should inform the school so that steps can be taken
to remedy the situation.

References:

Data Privacy Made for School (program partners: Vival, PEAC)

St. Nicholas Academy of Castillejos, Inc. Student’s Handbook
Deped Order No. 049, s. 2022
www.felsted.org
www.lsgh.edu.ph

Prepared by:

CHRIS-LYN S. FROMA
Prefect of Discipline