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Outschool's "Golden Rules" for Learners

Information for learners on interacting and sharing materials with their Outschool classmates.

Updated this week

At Outschool, we want all kids always to feel safe and connected in a fun, comfortable, and inclusive learning environment.

We believe that how you express yourself—whether through words, images, or videos—directly impacts our community. To ensure that our community is a safe space for everyone, members of our team may intervene to address behavioral issues or moderate messages and content choices if such content violates our community standards.

With that in mind, here are our guiding principles--also known as Outschool's “3 Golden Rules”:

  1. Be Kind: Help all learners feel welcome and included.

  2. Be Safe: Keep your personal information private and never ask other learners for theirs.

  3. Be respectful: Treat others how you want to be treated.

Watch our Trust and Safety Code of Conduct video for more information on our 3 Golden Rules:

Because we assume the best intentions in our community--and know that our learners may inadvertently post material or say things that violate our 3 Golden Rules, we intervene or moderate content through a lens that everyone can learn from their mistakes. To that end, we always use our discretion in reviewing content and take appropriate actions to educate where possible, rather than “penalize” our users. We believe that this approach will ultimately better our community and our greater society as a whole.

To educate our learners and families, we email them as soon as the learner posts something problematic and ask that they review our Code of Conduct video and talk through our guidelines with their learner, with the hope that going forward, the learner commits to upholding our standards. In egregious or repeated incidents, Outschool may, however, take additional actions such as account suspension, termination, or law enforcement notification. We will always notify learners and families before suspending or terminating an account.

For additional information on what actions constitute violations and result in consequences, please consult our “Green, Yellow, Red” guide below.

Green = Go

Full Speed Ahead

Yellow = Caution

Slow Down -- Think First! This can hurt and offend.

(Minor to Moderate Violation)

Our team may remove this content and issue a warning email.

Red = STOP

Danger Zone - Don’t Move Ahead! This line should never be crossed.

(Severe Violation)

Our team will remove this material, issue a warning, may take disciplinary actions, and may report to Law Enforcement.

Be Kind & Welcoming

Never use bullying or hateful words.

GO

  • Kind words

  • Welcome words

  • Inclusive words

  • Compliments and praise

  • Using others’ preferred name and pronouns

  • Embrace differences

  • Tolerant

CAUTION

  • Demeaning words and language

  • Calling people names

  • Belittling words

  • Jokes making fun of others

  • Potty language

  • Slang

STOP

  • Racist language

  • Sexist or gender discrimination, sexual innuendo

  • Profanity

  • Religious knocks or blasphemy

  • Derogatory comments about any protected class of people

  • Bullying

Be Safe

To protect your identity, don’t share PII (Personal Identifying Information) with others.

GO

  • First name

  • Favorites: foods, colors, TV shows, authors, animals, etc.

  • Hobbies

  • Country, region, time zone

  • Grade

  • Types of pets

  • Be yourself - share who you are

CAUTION

  • City, State

  • Birthday

STOP

  • Full name

  • Address

  • Email

  • Gaming handles (ok to share with teacher for speciality classes)

  • Social media or posting of websites

  • School name

  • Unauthorized pictures of others

Be Respectful

Help make Outschool a comfortable place for learning by refraining from swear words or bad language. Also, don’t threaten, harass, or make others feel uncomfortable by using inappropriate references. Finally, don’t share inappropriate pictures or videos.

GO

  • Uplifting language

  • Safe words

CAUTION

  • Distasteful slang words

  • Bathroom or potty language

STOP

  • Inappropriate references to violence, weapons, or killing

  • Threats or harassment towards others

  • Bullying

  • Pictures or depictions of others without their permission

  • Immodest photos or videos

  • Nudity or uncovered body parts

  • Sexual innuendo

  • Sexting

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