How a school sets its own standards in Navōn
A vendor's idea of acceptable is not a school's. Navōn lets a school state its own line, target it by class, grade or age, and combine it safely with what parents set.
A school that lets students use AI is making a statement about its standards, whether it means to or not. If the tool applies only the vendor's idea of acceptable, the school's own line (what a menahel would say in a staff meeting) goes unenforced. Navōn lets a school state that line itself. This post covers what a school can set, who it applies to, and how it combines with everything else.
What a school can set
A school administrator creates a filter setting with a name and a description, and then chooses three things.
Several settings can exist at once, for example a stricter one for younger grades and a looser one for older students.
Settings can also carry a school's own values wording and a tone, so the answer a student gets is framed the way the school would want and not in a generic voice. Several settings can exist at once, for example a stricter one for younger grades.
Who a setting applies to
Each setting has a target. It can cover everyone in the school, specific classes, an age range, or specific grade levels. A school with a lower school and a high school can therefore give them different rules without running two separate systems.
A school's rules govern its students. Teachers, staff and administrators are not filtered as though they were children. That matters in practice: a morah preparing a lesson on a difficult chapter of history needs to see the material to teach it responsibly, and she should not meet the rules written for an eight-year-old.
How the school's rules combine with a parent's
Many students also have a parent who has set their own rules. Navōn does not make them compete. The layers are merged, and the protective settings always take the stricter side:
- The moderation level is the strictest of the two.
- Blocked topics are the union of both lists, so a topic blocked by either one stays blocked.
- Allowed hours use the narrowest window. If a school allows 8:00 to 22:00 and a parent allows 16:00 to 20:00, the student gets 16:00 to 20:00.
- A parent cannot switch off something the school blocked, and a child cannot undo what an adult set by choosing a looser setting for themselves.
Above both sits a small set of rules that no school or parent can relax. Those are not settings. They apply to every account regardless of what anyone configures, so a misconfigured policy cannot open a door that should never be open.
Time zones are handled for the school
A school's hours are read in the school's own time zone, not in UTC. Without that, an 8:00 to 22:00 school day would lock a New York student out in the late afternoon. It is a small detail, and it is the kind of thing that decides whether a policy works on an ordinary Tuesday.
What the student sees
When a school's blocked topic stops a message, the reply says the topic is one the parent or school has asked Navōn not to discuss, and invites another question. It is worded for the child's age and appears in the conversation, as we describe in our post on what happens when Navōn refuses a request. The student cannot change the setting, and is pointed to an adult if they think the request should be allowed.
What a setting does not do
A school filter is a statement of the school's standard, applied consistently on the server. It is not a guarantee. No filter is, and a school that is told otherwise should be wary. It does not replace a rebbi's judgment, a clear acceptable use policy, or a conversation with students about why the standard exists. Our guide to writing an acceptable use policy for AI covers that side, and our piece on server-side versus device filtering explains why the rules follow the student rather than the device.
Halachic questions are a separate matter again. Navōn does not pasken, and a school's settings do not change that. Those questions go to a rav.
Setting it up well
- Start from your existing standard. If the school already has a written policy for the internet or for devices, name each setting after the part it enforces.
- Begin with one setting for everyone, then add narrower ones by grade or class only where there is a real reason.
- Set hours deliberately, and check them in the school's own time zone.
- Test it as a student would. Ask a question that should be blocked and read the reply the child would see.
- Tell parents what is on. A school that explains its standard gets fewer surprised phone calls.
Common questions
Can a school set different rules for different grades in Navōn?
Yes. A school setting can target everyone, specific classes, an age range or specific grade levels, and a school can keep several settings at once.
What happens if a parent and the school set different rules?
The protective settings take the stricter side. The stricter moderation level applies, blocked topics from both are combined, and the narrowest allowed-hours window wins.
Do a school's filter rules apply to teachers?
No. A school's rules govern its students. Teachers, staff and administrators are not filtered as though they were children.
Can a school turn off the safety rules that apply to everyone?
No. A small set of platform rules sits above every school and parent setting and cannot be relaxed by either.
Published by Navōn. How these guides are written and checked.
Read next
- Kosher AI: what it means and how to evaluate it
A complete guide to what people mean by kosher AI, why no certification exists, and the specific properties to check before a tool enters your home or classroom.
- Writing an AI acceptable use policy for your school
A section-by-section guide to an AI policy staff can actually apply, with the decisions that matter and the wording traps to avoid.
- Server-side vs device filtering: why extensions do not hold
Browser extensions, managed profiles and kiosk mode all filter a device. Here is why that breaks the moment a student picks up a phone — and what to do instead.