May 23, 2006
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Blogging Part 5
A school board in Illinois voted to require students participating in “extracurricular activities” sign a paper saying that “illegal or inappropriate” behavior posted on blogs and the internet could be grounds for “disciplinary action.”
The school district in Libertyville, Illinois has promised to not regularly monitor their blogs. They would just check them in response to tips provided by students, parents or community leaders. The school district has said that 80% of their students are involved in what they classify as extracurricular activities.
Should a school force students to allow their sites to be monitored in order to participate in extracurricular activities?
Comments (194)
no
-g
no way. thats invasion of privacy.
second
…not
No. But any kid who blogs about stuff like that is not the sharpest tack in the box.
no way. its their business. my school has actually blocked sites like xanga because of things like this.
I actually don’t think that’s a bad idea. When you join an extracurricular activity, you usually sign a contract saying that you promise to represent your school in a certain way. Keeping your blog appropriate is a part of that agreement, in my eyes.
NO!
no….I hadn’t heard anything about that!!
No, but the site’s (like xanga’s) rules should be followed. That’s up to the site host, not the school. But why would what someone puts on a website would heavily impact any extracurricular?
My school has xanga blocked as well.
Parents should watch there kids though.
it’s bob jones university all over again.
Yes and No depending on the school’s population
Um, are the kids blogging at school instead of learning????
No. Would it be fair to use a personal journal against someone in the same way?
no that’s silly
i think it’s really the parent’s responsibility. . . durn it, i forgot, there’s like a whole nation of parents out there who aren’t taking the time and effort to make it their responsibilty. maybe the school is right on track . . . at least they aren’t officially monitoring the blogs. . . just going off tips. it’s like crimestopper in neighborhoods comes to the internet.
Wow! Big Brother is watching!! and let’s resort to having friends and family turn you in. Not good in my opinion. The only ones that should be monitoring… the parents.
They monitor them anyway, regardless of whether or not students give their permission. This “rule” essentially does nothing more than let the students know that they’re being monitored. There was a case recently in my area where a student was expelled because he wrote a rap which included lyrics about violence and bodily harm to another student (with whom he was engaged in a “rap battle”) and posted the lyrics on his blog. The lyrics were neither written nor posted while he was on school grounds, and he was expelled anyway. (And he hadn’t signed an “agreement” letting school officials monitor him.)
If a student who hadn’t signed the agreement posted a blog entry about killing one of his teachers, would it be ignored because he hadn’t agreed to be monitored? Of course not.
That’s ludicrous, just so long as you don’t do it at school.
No!!! Is there no privacy any more my goodness.
Are we a free Country or not?
No, I think the kids should be able to express themselves one way or another, a lot of people find it therapeutic just to type or write.. I don’t think the school should have anything to do with that.
Altough, when I was in high school even though we didn’t have blogging, a lot of drama did get started as a result of internet activity.. but still I don’t think the school should have any access to that stuff.
sounds like a good way to make kids agree to that….
maybe it can prevent another columbine….
No. this is honestly ridiculous. people take the internet far too seriously.
I think the school should make extracurricular activities available only to those whose blogs are not insipid and boring. Compulsory speech! That’s what schools should require. Make the whole thing an english assignment and then grade the blog. Extre credit for a multitude of comments (so Dan gets the A+ that blows the curve for the rest of the class)
I actually don’t think that it’s a bad idea. Lately, its been through monitoring these types of sites that incidents have been stopped. In addition, there’s nothing that says that minors should have every right that adults do. (ask any family if they are a democracy. The answer is no.) Limits are good. Privacy is a privledge.
I do agree that schools should be aware of, or block a site if necessary on campus, inappropriate material on blogs. However I don’t see the coorelation between a blog and the opportunity to participate in extra curricular activities.
Absolutely ridiculous. No no no.
It’s silly to argue that this is an invasion of privacy. Blogs are PUBLIC. If you don’t want them to be read, don’t post them.
How many students in the country have gotten in trouble because a note they passed to a friend during school contained something inappropriate? Or because they wrote a “hit list” in a notebook that was then found by a teacher? Monitoring blogs is the same idea, it’s just that kids have gone high-tech now, so the schools have to keep up.
Nope.
That depends, uh what does the blog have to do with the school?
Um, I guess I confused. Do you mean if they blog at school? Or do you mean if their parents catch them blogging inappropriately at home and then turning them in? If you mean the first one, then yeah, I am for it. School is school and you are there to learn. Any kind of disruptive behavior at a place of learning is bad. Now if you meant the second one, screw that. That child or adolescent is on their own time and turf. What they do OUTSIDE of school is none of the school’s business unless it is parental abuse or a drug problem. Blogging is definitely not one of those even if it is inappropriate stuff the child is talking about.
This is utterly absurd! Free speech man, free speech. If they wanted to go about stopping kids from blogging about the so-called “extraciricular activities”, shouldn’t they just classify the activities so that they can charge those litte boogers with a felony?
On a lighter note, wouldn’t it be amusing to see someone blog about the ciricular activies involved in sex ed? Could you imagine the blog describing an in-class demonstration?
re: greeneyes_bjb
you cant say its the same thing as passing a note in school, because blogging doesnt happen in school. it’s like writing a letter to a friend, or having a notebook sitting at home. besides, what is the correlation between blogging and extra curriculars? what about wanting to be in volved in extra curriculars means that it’s okay for the school to go through your journal and allow you to participate based on whatever is written in there? what does one have anything to do with the other?
Well that’s a stupid idea. Are they going to keep sexually active teens or those who tried pot once from doing extracurricular activities? What about those who hate their parents, are homosexual, have a mental illness, or brag about their anorexia? Where would the line be drawn?
No. That’s stupid. The school is over-stepping their boundaries; if the student is advocating violence against other students, however, that is another matter…then said student should be questioned and if necessary given a serious ass-whooping.
absolutely not. How can they really monitor it anyway. Many blogs don’t exactly have the names of the person the blog belongs to on it. And it’s not difficult to create just about as many blogs as you want.
Absolutely not
Honestly, how can this be enforced? The kids give you a generic site to keep you happy and then conduct their underground site like always. What is also to prevent students from posting fake stories? I think it is a slippery slope.
I’m sorry, i am in the minority here…i think it’s a great idea…i have been checking out myspace lately to monitor my daughters and her friends and i am appalled by what 14, 15 ,16 year old kids post on there…I think it’s obvious alot of these kids are lacking and being made to atone more for what they do is a good idea to me! I think society is way to permissive of the “kids growing up to fast attitude”….
I’m almost surprised that the school is asking their permission. Teens’ attitude about their blogs seems silly. “Everybody look at me! LOOK AT ME! Wait! How dare you look at me!”
also…i have been reading thru the comments here…and the problem is, the kids aren’t using blogs to express themselves…they are using it to show off about sex, drugs, and drinking…i know i sound like an old prude….but that isn’t true, i simply have 7 children i am trying to raise…and the more i look at myspace, the more worried i get:)
Eh, I’m honestly not too crazy about the idea–just in general. Blogging I think is something to be done in free time–not something done for school. My school didn’t require me to do anything extraciricular, and I don’t think that other schools should either. If they were more concerned about the academics, then perhaps this wouldn’t be such an issue.
~Caroline~
Not unless the sites are maintained on the school website, servers, other computer equipment or other facilities. If such is the case, then the school not only has the right, but as a public institution, has the responsibility to monitor what is on the site.
On the other hand, if the site is maintained outside of the school’s property, then not only does the school not have the right to determine appropriate content for it, they don’t even have the right to monitor it. That falls under the jurisdiction of law enforcement. If the school tried to monitor or control a student’s website outside of its authority it could be in for all sorts of trouble – legal and otherwise.
Peace,
Chaz
Re: Kestryl
I’ll agree that it’s not exactly the same as reading a note passed in school, but it’s certainly nothing like ransacking a child’s room to read the journal or opening mail that they sent to a friend. Blogs are public. This means that ANYONE (including school officials) has the right to read them unless the user chooses to make entries private.
Like I said in my first comment, they read them anyway, whether or not the student gives permission. A student in my area recently got expelled because of something posted on his blog, and he didn’t agree to have it monitored.
You’re right that extra curricular activities have nothing to do with blogs. I’m not sure that that was the point. They couldn’t very well say “by going to this school, you agree to have your blog monitored” since kids don’t have a choice when it comes to that, so my guess is that they were just trying to find something that the kids had a choice in so that the kids felt like they had at least a small amount of say in the matter.
And it doesn’t say that they would “allow you to participate based on whatever is written in there,” it says that they would take disciplinary action if what you wrote was illegal or inappropriate. If a student writes “I want to kill my teacher” in a PUBLIC forum, I have no problem with disciplinary action being taken. Like I said before, the school doesn’t need permission to read the blogs in the first place, anymore than any of us need “permission” so read each others’ blogs. Anyone is entitled to read whatever is posted on a public forum.
absolutely NOT!
NO!! That’s an invasion of privacy!! I certainly would not want my employer monitoring my site … yikes!!
no… this should be parental jurisdiction. However, if there is dangerous stuff going on, it should be brought to parent’s and school leader’s attention.
Re:greeneyes_bjb
i think my problem is mainly with the fact that teenagers especially, write things in journals that aren’t necessarily a true reflection of their plans. i mean, “I’m going to kill my teacher”, after having failed an assignment, isn’t necessarily a reflection of a student’s real plan to murder their teacher. I dont think it should be a rule that blogs should be monitored because i personally think there are ways to see warning signs in people who actually intend to cause others harm, without invading their privacy that way.
Re:greeneyes_bjb
i think my problem is mainly with the fact that teenagers especially, write things in journals that aren’t necessarily a true reflection of their plans. i mean, “I’m going to kill my teacher”, after having failed an assignment, isn’t necessarily a reflection of a student’s real plan to murder their teacher. I dont think it should be a rule that blogs should be monitored because i personally think there are ways to see warning signs in people who actually intend to cause others harm, without invading their privacy that way.
no, school and leisure should be 2 different things
“Invasion of privacy?” That’s the most rediculous thing I’ve heard. You’re posting on the WORLD WIDE WEB, for goodness sakes. Students have no business posting anything that they wouldn’t be comfortable with others viewing — remember mom responding to your whispering by saying, “If you can’t say it out loud, you probably shouldn’t say it.”
I assume this is a public school? There are many private schools around here doing similar things. I know several students who have been expelled for inappropriate pictures or comments on their myspaces and other blogs.
YEAH FOR MORE CENSORSHIP ! ! ! CAUSE IF THERE IS ONE THING THIS COUNTRY DOESNT HAVE ENOUGH ITS UP-TIGHT ASSHOLES WITH TOO MUCH FREE TIME RESTRICTING WHAT WE CAN AND CANT SAY.
Re: Kestryl
You’re definitely right that teenagers often write things when they’re emotional that they don’t really mean. I can see that this could be a concern, because kids could potentially get in trouble for saying things in a moment of anger that they’d never actually do.
I think that the school’s main concern in doing this is the safety of their students. If there’s another Columbine, and it turns out that the shooters had posted something about their plans on their blogs and no one had done anything about it, imagine the uproar that would follow. It may not be the most effective way to spot potential problems, but it is one way.
I like smurfy29′s answer.
I haven’t talked to you. How are you doing?
I remember my mom saying, “Fool’s names and fool’s faces always appear in public places.” A blog is a public place, so don’t cry about “right to privacy”. You’re the one who violates that phantom right as soon as you post. In answer to the question: no, school should not have to police blogs. Students should police themselves and use their brains about what they post. If you say something that can get you into trouble, go boo-hooing to yourself.
Finished too soon … besides, when did it become the schools’ job to do what parents are supposed to be doing?
Re:greeneyes_bjb
the motive behind it, trust me, is understandable. i jsut think that policing students’ blogs is messier and unpleasant enough that the costs outweigh the benefits. it just seems to add fuel to the fire, as opposed to really helping anything. beyond which, there is a difference between posting something on a public site that granted someone may find and being forced to provide the exact location of a journal. despite being “public”, it’s usually select friends and groups of complete strangers who read blogs; not school officials, parents, people in positions of authority who force you to let them read. beyond which, students can now just lie about their intentions and thoughts, which really, means policing blogs doesnt serve any purpose.
No, but then if parents won’t guide and guard their kids, I guess the schools feel they have to. On the other hand, one wonders what’s really the story behind it.
only if they (KNOW) the student is taking drugs.
no.
Are these blogs created as part of the school activities, or as projects. If they are connected in someway to the school, then I can at least understand it. If they are private: 1. I wouldn’t consider it the schools business. It is a family issue, not an institutions. 2. Most identities on private blogs are hidden. The school would only have access to what the student chose to disclose. It would be unenforceable. It would leave students open to harassment by other students who could use the threat of turning them in as a form of blackmail.
Web blogging is done with the intent of having an audience. There are ways to block those who you do not want to read your blog including protected posts. If the person does not chose to protect their post then they should not cry foul when an adult/school/authority reads it. There are a lot of public confessions, outrageous and crimeridden acts posted all of the time. Are we supposed to just ignore this or address it. I would be estatic if an agency found something my kid posted that was inappropriate and dealt with it. Maybe I am strange but wrong is wrong – if the kid is wrong, they should be called on it.
I would never sign it…it violates my freedom of speech
No. That’s retarted
To Viccieanne
alright! a Parent who takes responsibility for raising their children. Massive eprops to you. BUT the school should not have that right…you do not want the Government raising your children.
depends on who you are.
if your not doing anything illegal than you have nothing to worry about
and shouldn’t care if they check on you or not
however.
if you are doing illegal things
you should be smart enough NOT to post it on the internet,
where everyone can see it.
at least make it private!
so.
depends on who you are.
LOL I know where Libertyville is. That’s about 10 minutes away from my town. My parents go to church there.
I got this one. I know a lot of kids here on xanga and they were spied on by the church we belonged to once upon a time. OOOOOOHHHHH WWWEEEEE we are talking about some mad kids let me tell ya. The kids trusted the church and the parents not to spy. They left the information so that when the kids needed to be contacted then it was fine. OOOOHHHH NNNNOOO!!!!! The church did one better got some of the parents involved and shut a few kids down and made them get more secretive and hide further. How crappy is that? Very crappy. The kids were nice kids doing some things but nothing bad persay and all the church did made them feel like little bitty two year olds. The church made these kids feel like they needed their butts wiped and couldnt talk to their friends without someone spying on them. I love the kids. I at least asked them before I subscribed and had to promise not to spy and be their friend. I am more trusted than the church now.
no thats just crazy talk
Ironic that the school is located in Libertyville.
And laserlawyer (I hope that says “laser” and not ”loser.” I can’t really tell) has got a good idea there. Not compulsory, but how about an elective blogging class–”Internet English.” The class would be swamped.
awish4you WHATS WRONG WITH THE DRUGS?
Re: Kestryl
Yeah, I’d thought of that too – letting students know that their blogs are being read might make them lie in order to not get into trouble.
Whether or not the students are forced to provide the address of their journals, however, they’re not hard to find. Many high schools have blogrings, so all the teachers and officials have to do is browse the blogring and easily find the blogs of their students. (And yes, I looked, and there is a “Libertyville High School” blogring, which includes in its description a warning that parents and teachers may be reading, so bloggers should watch what they say.) At least in this case, the officials had the courtesy to warn the students beforehand. I’m willing to bet that a lot of schools are doing this, and their students don’t have a clue.
no…total invasion of privacy
That’s a bit dramatic I think.
oh_mother_may_I, how about a pastor of a church who not only went on to see what “his” teens (i.e. the church kids) were doing online. . . but who went further and tried to find anyone associated with a certain school (i once attended) who had ever written anything slightly out of line with the school’s policies (this isn’t even dealing with terrorists and drugs, ok, this is like talking about music and movies) and PRINTED off everyone’s sites (that he could find) and then sent them to said school.
i had some really peeved friends.
no. that is an invasion of privacy. the only prerequisite for participation in extracurricular activites should be performance up to a certain uniform standard in the classroom….
No. HEL-LO, FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!!! FREEDOM OF SPEECH! FREEDOM OF PRESS!!!!
HELL NO!
What peopel do on their own time is THEIR business. Parents should be regulating! WHY AREN’T PARENTS TAKING ACTION AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN F’ING KIDS!
REMINDER TO THOSE WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT HAVING KIDS. — TAKE CARE OF YOUR SH*T!
GOD I HATE THIS TOPIC! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
The thing is, there are nuts out there who will destroy anything they can touch. Unfortunately this means people in the church as well. There is no easy answer to this question apparently. Again, that is a case for using protected posts. If you have nut cases stalking you, block them.
Nope.
no they shouldnt.
that reminds me of a local private school, the priests in charge (the teachers and what not), make sure that the students dont have xangas, blogs, or wear “preppy clothes” like abercrombie or hollister. if they see the kids even on weekends in clothes like that, theya re discliplied. i always thought that was wrong. it shouldnt matter what you wear or do in your free time as long as its not obstructing your school work. now, it leads me to wonder…these new rules are being implemented in light of technology advancing, yet we’ve always had gangs around, and there are no expressive rules about participation in those by the school. schools dont even turn kids into police b/c technically they cant prove any misbehavior…yet schools cant prove any harms or misbehavior with online sites….
Hell no! Do we suddenly live in the USSR? or perhaps China? maybe Nazis Germany? I swear this country is going to Hell in a hand basket. our founding fathers would have roused the militia and hung some people by this point….
No.
I know a pastor who frequently posts on Xanga…but instead of doing it to spy; he does it to engage in conversation.
No they damn well shouldn’t – what kind of snooping, paranoid nation is America turning into?
No. Monitoring is a parental responsibility.
absolutly not, what they do outside school is their own buisness and their parents resposibility.
TikimanFiregod he said it best.
Libertyville is an ironic name in this situation.
no way that’s an invasion of personal life. there needs to be a seperation of school and home life.
I feel that it is inappropriate and intrussive to require the students to submit to such monitoring in order to participate in any school related activities. I believe that the childrens actions outside of school are the responsibility of their parents.
f;asihgio;hsadjdafgfsl;akjoksg j these stupid ideas are beginning to get annoying
I actually live in Illinois and was in a high school the looked at student’s blogs. (thank God I am in college now) I think it is such an invasion of privacy. Yes, kids may be doing illegal things outside of the school day, but it is not up to the school to decide if it is right or wrong, it is up to the parents and the children. Personally, many kids in my school could not go to dances or games because they blogged that they were drinking the night before or any other offense. I just dont understand what gives the schools the right to invade in on the personal lives of their students unless there is a physical harm to a student(s) in question.
Students should just say they don’t have a blog.
Absolutely not, that’s rediculous. It’s a HUGE invasion of privacy, and wrong.
No. Schools should exist to educate, not to provide surrogate parents. That said, schools should have the power to exercise disciplinary powers in areas under their direct jurisdiction, such as classroom behavior.
First of all, this is completely ridiculous. WHat you do outside of school, on your personal computer, after school hours should have absolutely no effect on a childs education. School is not life, it’s an institution of learning. But also, here on Xanga you can make posts private and protected and with the new xanga lock, I wouldn’t worry about any teachers looking at my blog.
no idea
I would agree with the no illegal activity, but as for inappropriate….that is too subjective unless specifically defined in the rule set forth. I would agree to that though…..:) I remember being in high school….and how poor of leaders some of our student athletes were and the horrible examples they set as role models.
no. that doesn’t even make sense. someone’s blog has nothing to do with their extracurricular activities. now if someone came to the school and said “johnny posted a hit list on his blog saying tomorrow at 11:00 he was going to thow bombs into the classrooms of these people” then, ya, cause for concern. but other than anything along those lines — where people in the school’s safety is actually in jeopardy — then there’s really no reason that things posted in a blog should affect a students life. that’s just more drama than a school needs to take on.
I don’t think it’s any different than requiring students engaged in extra-curicular activies being required to be able to pass drug tests.
No way. A school’s authority over a student begins and ends with their education. What they do at home, on thier own personal (or family’s) computers, on thier own web site (completely unaffiliated with the school) is none of the school’s business.
That said, it’s a completely different story if they’re posting while at school, or the blog in question is school-sponsered or run or whatever.
No. Someone’s blog is private business. Unless you’re breaking the law, the school shouldn’t have jurisdiction over your private life. If you write on your blog at school, then they can get you for being on the internet when you’re not supposed to, but the punishment should be minor.
If they’re not breaking the law with their blog, then the school needs to forget about it. If they are, then unless it’s something that the school already has rules about, the school should still forget about it.
My school is putting up security cameras around in the hallways and parking lot soon…
I hate it soooo much. It’s 1984-tastic.
they should not be able to do that
first of all site such as xanga, and myspace both of which they are referring to are not allowed to be veiwed at school! so why should the school have any input on that
no its not right to monitor the students blogs because its retarded and the school shouldnt have that much power period.
No way. Our sites are our private place, the one place we have the freedom to say, think, and do without control (to an extent, I don’t want porno or anything like that on xanga, thankya) It’s our place to vent on problems and be able to write a nasty word or two about someone when they piss us off (and in my case, apologize for it a day or two later -_-)
Laura
I would say they have the right to monitor things done during school hours or on school property. Beyond that it’s not the school’s business unless it involves illegal threats that involve the school, in which case law enforcement should be involved.
No, its the parents responsibility.
NO. No no no. Hell Fucking no. The school has no right.
RYC: Actually I think it’s the opposite here…my kids’ friends are always complaining…”you are too strict, my parents let me do whatever I want”…yet htese are the same kids who are at my house day in and out and seem to reveal in the fact that my hubby and I care what they ALL are doing….my kids also always hear “you parents are so cool, i wish my parents were like yours”…so it is alot of mixed messages!
I was just suprised by the response your topic got today…I had been talking aobut MySpace all this week and so many parents said they want their child suppervised online, etc…yet when you posed the question, I can’t beleive how many people thought public domain was an “invasion of privacy”….
The gut reaction (and probably the right one) is NO. It depends on how they define what they consider unacceptable. If some kid blogs about a school shooting or some form of violence and the school is tipped off and does nothing and the violence happens, then what? -
JUST commented on some chick’s sit about YOU
WE both know i’m just fucking with YOU…and also testing the parameters of your readers intelligence
UNLIKE the MEologian knockers..i’m gonna make YOU be all you can be
…and ain’t it a pisser that my off-the-cuff posts usually make “featured”
NOW go to http://eminemsrevenge.net to see what your fellow thinking Xangans are saying
NOOOOO! IT’S THEIR SITE AND THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUT WHATEVER THEY WANT ON THERE!
The school is trying to do the parents’ job.
ive never left you a comment before but i read your posts all the time. just thought i would mention it. by the way. im currently using my girlfriends xanga, mine is really um_hxc_duh so i thought i would stop by and actually comment you.
~Mat
Another step towards fascism. Yay!
i better not chime in on this one, cuz MY SCHOOL DISTRICT DOES SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THIS!!!
it’s not about participating in extracurricular activites..but something different that i probably should not say bc ive had some close calls with it… apparently im too opinionated
Hell no!!
First off, Private schools are a different issue. Enrollment in a private school means that are paying them for the right to get an education from them and be included in their image. On the other hand, a public school should have no right. The public school system was setup so that all people could have the chance to get an education. Therefore, the school’s mandate would not allow them to exclude someone based on what they publish. A public school is the lowest common denominator in education. On the otherhand, the police should have the option to watch the sites, but not require the sites to self report, any form of illegal activity and act on it. But a public school? No right whatsoever to interfere or go beyond the walls of the school system themselves. Extra-curricular activity of a public school is only those activities directly tied to and supported by the public school system. Blogs are not such entities.
no
Absolutely not. I’m sick of school’s, they’re trying to control everything.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
They are trying to do this at my school and I hate it. I don’t want anyone reading my stuff unless I know them and say they can.
NO.
no
Did the students have to provide links to their blog? Or is the school just saying “if you do something illegal and tell the world about it on the internet and we find out, we’re going to (gasp) discipline you for it?” Because there is a big difference between enforcing rules and laws or “monitoring blogs.” Let’s determine which one we’re talking about before we respond.
hell no
I dont think the schools should really get involved, but I suppose when kids use school computers to update thier sites then the school may have a leg to stand on, plus they are kids, they need supervision.
I guess I have a electronic code of conduct I must follow at work, but things I do completely outside of work should not be of interest to my employer, but what I do with thier computers can be of thier concern.
basically anyone can view public sites like xanga and myspace, so schools can “monitor” these sites just like anyone else… I think the real question is whether schools should be allowed to take disciplinary action based on what is said at these sites
Absolutely not. That is like asking them to submit their diaries for reveiw. How very invasive. That’s ridiculous.
Most extracurriculars have rules like no drinking, no smoking, no drugs, no involvement in criminal activity of any kind. If a school “monitors” a blog and finds out a student has indeed done any of these things, is that going to be admissible as “evidence” that they actually did them? Some teenagers may not be too truthful in their blogs and may brag or gossip. It would be difficult to prove, unless they were actually caught in the act. However, if someone is making threats toward schoolmates or faculty, or harassing someone online, which is now a crime, then yes, that should be reported and monitored, and should affect their participation. It would be the same as if notes or notebooks were found, or IM’s, containing those kind of threats – it could prevent another Columbine. This has happened at my son’s high school, and averted a disaster in the making.
Blogs are public; if you want your writing to be private, make your posts protected or private.
greeneyes_bjb I agree with you 100%. Teachers will monitor it anyway (colleges look at MySpace for admissions, too). I really don’t think it should be a problem though… But that’s just me. I don’t post things that are inappropriate on my Xanga (or MySpace), nor do I ever intend to. A lot of people I know (the majority, sadly) have engaged in “inappropriate or illegal” activity in the past (or even on a regular basis) mostly concerning underage drinking. Many are “intelligent” people…well, as far as academics, that is. They are also very involved in extra-curriculars. They comment about their illegal activities regularly on MySpace (not so much Xanga) and could be hurting their chances at some colleges that check up on prospective students’ MySpaces. They believe that they have the “freedom” or the “right” to be posting about illegal activity socially on MySpace and other similar sites. Personally, I disagree. If you do something wrong, you shouldn’t be able to just get away with it without repercussions.
On the other hand, some argue that their school life and academics should be completely separated from their social life.
Personally, I think that by turning their heads the other way and not checking up on students on MySpace, teachers are, in a way, encouraging their students to continue illegal and inappropriate behavior. Perhaps by schools “cracking down” on students, there will be some reduction of said actions to begin with. Also, I believe that specifically private school and ALL colleges have the right to check up on students through sites such as MySpace because they have the choice of accepting someone or not. What school would want a student that gets into trouble a lot? (Or, that is, does things that they SHOULD get in trouble for).
What the Hell?! No. No-no-no-no-no-no.
Parents? Yeah, hi. I have a little idea. Why don’t you try PARENTING?
It’s not the school’s job to spank your child for saying the kid across the street is a “faggot” on his blog. It’s yours. Sure, you don’t want to have to be the (DUN-DUN-DUNNN) bad guy, but parents sometimes need to confront their children. Asking them kindly to stop and then letting them be doesn’t cut it, parents.
As a minor myself, I can honestly say that if my parents catch me doing wrong, I want my parents to actually teach me what I’m doing wrong, not some school official.
invasion of privacy. but schools should block the sites from their servers so the blogging is not happening during school hours.
no
crap.
WHY IS THE WHOLE COUNTRY HELL-BENT ON BRINGING DOWN BLOGGING? the fact is that the amount of young people solicited online is EXTREMELY small in comparison to the overall amount of bloggers, and i am also of the strong opinion that anyone who actually meets with someone that they dont know that they met online, and get assaulted or harassed as a result of it, is a COMPLETE DUMBASS.
[in case you couldnt figure it out, i dont think they should be doing this in illinois]
[[i'm really not a total asshole, this whole 'blogging is ruining the country' thing gets on my nerves]]
It seems like a stretch to me. I understand monitoring it if a school computer is used.
No. The schools could decide to ban blogging on school grounds, but what students do outside of school is none of their business.
No. As much as I think that parents should monitor what children are involved in, I think the school system has no business delving into students blogs. That’s the job for parents.
I think people are missing the point … If it was your son or daughter or niece or nephew and they were posting personal information on the world wide web that could lead to stalkers or pedophiles you might reconsider. The real solution is to teach kids the dangers about posting personal information on the triple W, just as adults are learing every day not to post social security numbers, credit card information and the like. Let’s be sensible folks. There is freedom of speech and there is protecting oneself.
Minors do NOT have the same rights that adults do [and let's face it, some adults need a refresher course more often than not] … Let’s get it together and protect the welfare of our kids!
That’s ridiculous. Completely.
School districts are out of control! It’s not enough that they tell people what to think and say for their school time, now they want to tell people what to think and say outside of school.
Only if the students are minors…this is a public web blog. Anyone can see it.
As far as “it’s the parents job” … don’t we all believe that there is a community of teachers/parents/coaches/instructors who are responsible for the well-being and safety of our kids. It’s not ONE person’s responsibility. No way.
No, but at the same time I can see why the school’s doing it – you want to have the best kids representing your school, and if your star basketball player is somehow busted for underage porn on his blog, then yeah, the school wouldn’t be too pleased. As long as the school isn’t constantly monitoring the site and getting you in trouble for talking badly about a teacher, then yeah, that would be wrong.
HECK NO!!!
What happened to the idea of schools being a source of nurture, not a means of repression? Why isn’t transgression valued for its reconstructive after-effects? Why do we try to squeeze education into a position of sterility and quietude that effectively reverses the learning process? Compare to a cold virus: Haven’t we learned by now that if you get a germ that makes you sick, you’ll be far less likely to become sick again – even after subsequent re-encounters? …This whole “freedom from [insert phobia here]” mentality is grossly biased. The only reason that any norm established by authority remains a norm, is because the subjected parties do nothing to alter it. We must realize that any counteraction on behalf of those who hold power is just as much a deliberate rebellion as the deviation of common citizens. Though there can never be political equality, there always remains the individual right to be right.
If you post it publicly on the internet, they can view it at any time anyway. Why bother asking the kids to sign this? I guess it brings it to their attention that ‘Hey! The world can see this, including your school…” and brings a bit of reality to it. But that just means that next time there’s a plot being hatched to recreate Columbine, the kids won’t post it on MySpace or give any warning what-so-ever and lives could be lost. What was it about good intentions and the road to hell to again…?
Not in any way at all, thats our private lives.
No way. Blogs are totally seperate from school. I think students should have the freedom to express whatever they want on their blogs, regardless of what the ‘school’ thinks is “right” or not. Whatever happened to freedom of speech?
In my opinion, school and internet should be seperate in most cases.
no. i think thats bogus. what is it any of the school’s business what you say on your blog?? i think thats utterly stupid.
then again.. there was a kid who went to school in my city who was making threats to shoot up his school.. describing in detail particular students and teachers he would kill, how he would do it, where he would shoot them, etc… going into details. soo i guess i could kind of understand them monitoring it.. but i think expelling a student for writing “inappropriate” song lyrics is a little far.
I think it’s reasonable to tell them they shouldn’t post illegal or innapprorpiate stuff on their blogs. With most sports and other extracurricular activities there’s generally either an out-right rule about this stuff or it’s at least an unspoken agreement that you won’t get yourself in trouble by being indecent or doing illegal things. You already have to keep up good grades to particupate in extra curricular activities. I think this is a reasobable step… esp since they won’t regularly motinor, it’ll only be when someone is pointed out as having something inappropriate on their blog.
some say its an “invasion of privacy” but we sign up for blogs with complete knowledge that they are a public site visible to anyone.
no, plain and simply no
they are under 18/or in high school…the high school can make them do whatever they want. is it right? not necessarily. is it that wrong? after working in a middle school for a year, no it’s not that wrong. too many kids are getting into too much trouble at too young an age. heck, my college tried to censor facebook.com, a profile/networking site, and has forced our athletes/greeks/res. life members to clean up our profiles. it’s not fair, but that’s life.
No that’s fucking bullshit. School systems are terrible about rules. They WILL check, REGULARLY, because that’s what school systems do.
I had a friend who typed she “wanted to kill” a teacher; obviously meaning in the context that she wasn’t happy with them – who hasn’t heard that expression? But the school got ahold of it and blew it up into some huge incident. They are ridiculous. They need to stop trying to monitor our entire lives, they already have control for a huge portion of our lives.
No.That is absolutely ridiculous. One’s personal life, as long as within the law, does not affect their extracurricular membership. That is that.
[ariana]
Everyone has to be a cop…….
No! It’s the student’s business. Adults are trying so hard these days to suffocate the life out of us, I swear.
My old school’s only blocked MySpace…Come to think of it, so has the library. Xanga’s safe so far.
I don’t have time to read all these comments, but judging by the way things are going on the first page, I have this to say:
1) an online journal is not comparable to a private journal, as one is posted on the internet, which can be accessed from countless portals all over the globe, and the other is only available to be viewed in its original physical form.
And on that same note, 2) what “invasion of privacy” are people griping about? What “privacy” is there when you post your thoughts, words, and ideas on the World Wide Web? Has the internet become your personal diary and counselor? No, the internet is a communal source of information and expression, and anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable standing and shouting on a street corner, you should not write for all the world to see.
Besides, from a moral standpoint, what are you doing that could get you thrown out of an extracurricular activity that you’re willing to brag about?
I would agree that schools should not monitor blogs. There is no way to stop the junk from going around. Not only that, but weather or not students have a bunch of innapropriate junk on their sites, it does not really affect the way the extracurricular activites are handled, unlike drugs and alchohol, which hinder the students’ ability to participate. I also agree that parents should do a better job monitoring their kids’ sites and what is on them. As a 16 year old, I personally have nothing to hide on any of my sites, or my own computer for that matter.
wow, no way! i mean, i understand that potentially harmful behavior can occur as a result of what is said on an online journal, but the school district should not use it to punish their students.
No, but there is TOS for Xanga
I thought blogs were monitored in some way or the other by the site, but if that’s not the case, although I believe in privacy, and I think that should be respected, on the other hand, highschool kids are still minors, and based on just xanga, I’ve seen some things I really didn’t want to see from underaged kids. I don’t know what they’re calling illegal/inappropriate, but in some cases some monitoring could be a good thing. It would also help to tip the schools off about hazing incidents like the ones that have been popping up in the news. I’m not saying if it’s right or wrong, but I definately know they won’t be able to catch everyone, because you can always go private…
No.
Why I said no: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sari0009&nextdate=2%2f6%2f2006+23%3a59%3a59.999
I think it is a violation of a student’s privacy. I would hate to have my school have access to my blog. I would get realy pissed at that.
Reading a student’s blog isn’t an invasion of privacy – who are you kidding? They wrote it in the public domain, I’d say they’re responsible for what they put out there. I think kids SHOULD be held responsible for what they write and say in a public forum – I personally think we all should, actually.
To answer the question, NO the schools shouldn’t be monitoring a student’s blog.
Yes, people should be held accountable for what they say. However, it isn’t the school’s place to do so. I beleive in the right of free speech, and it’s consiquences.
I’m afraid that if a gov’t agency (like a school) gets involved in monitoring individual sites there will be a disassociation between the context of the message, and the words that are being said. A blog should be read in context.
A blog is just like an old fashioned pen and paper diary — people are going to record their thoughts, it’s just a different media.
How about… hell no!!! Privacy, people.
i like this keep it up
Absolutely not. That would be like your boss telling you he is going to be reading your journal to make sure you are happy with your job. Ridiculous!
does the blog belong to the school, if yes, they should regulate it. since you are describing it as extra circicular I am assuming away and outside of the school, that I would have to say is taking away a freedom….which is wrong.
?
PAPIERS BITTE!
That really sucks, where are children going to learn to express themselves, if they can’t post how they feel in a blog…lol, this country is becoming a dictatorship:(
No, because while extracurricular activities are not required, they are almost necessary because they look so good on your file for going to college. Also, if you go to public school, then the activites are funded by the government, which is supposed to give you the right to freedom of speech.
no. if the school board can get to it without the kids help, then they should be able to use any evidence found there. otherwise, they should have to back off.
I dont think so!!!! THat seems like a violation of privacy and kids should be able to express theirselves in their own online diary however they want I think it is their parents job to monitor their internet journal not a school. Why wouldnt they put a tracker on their site block certian users and people not logged into xanga feature then wait for school to log in and block them!!!!! That should fix the schools asses!!!!!!
Privacy is a right, not a privelege as someone said.
The Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965, [381 U.S. 479]
that there are “penumbras” in certain amendments
(1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, et cetera)which create zones of privacy.
However, as blogs are written with the intended purpose of
being read, all public entries are therefore excluded from
such rulings. In another twist, administrators have no compelling
interest in determining what said blogs contain. They simply
wish to enforce a policy of good public reputation, which of
itself is insufficient to infringe upon said right of privacy.
In sum, if you don’t want to be read, make it private.
“No!!! Is there no privacy any more my goodness.” It’s obviously not private if it’s on a public site.
A student is representing the school by being a part of extra-curricular activities. Therefore, the school has every right to monitor this.
There should be a seperation of the school life and the home life.
Our school tried to cross that boundary – the school nurses sent home “fat letters” to the parents of students who were a certain level of overweight.
Good intentions aside, what it did was Humiliate students unneccessarily and piss off parents.
The media harped onto it and they ate my school district alive. Turns out you can’t pass off onto the parents what you don’t preach in the school. They served donuts and poptarts as the ONLY available breakfast foods, and pizza and other fatty crap as the only lunch alternatives.
They’ve since incorporated a healthy choice into the menu…and have stopped imposing themselves in the home.
“force to allow”
Isn’t that one of those oxymorphones?
It all comes down to the question of whether pornography should be legal or not. We fret over it so much, we make way too much out of it. Either it is allowed or it isn’t. Parents and teachers certainly have a right to impost their moral codes upon the children in their charge, but it must stop there or we really have only limited freedom.
I have no problem with limited freedom – its a matter of where the lines are drawn. It someone wants to take away my Browning M2 .50, then we have a problem. That is my favorite deer-getter and I might need it to protect my family from criminals or government takeover. So we have to decide on what kind of a limited freedom we can live with in this country.
Now what were we talking about…?
L,r
NO!!!!!
this is like the question you asked about parents reading blogs.
i still say no.
no way jose
that’s my school.
no, i think it’s wrong. i gradutated last year, but kept a xanga for 3 of the 4 years that i was there. there have been various incidents leading up to this decision.
but no, it’s not the school’s job to monitor this stuff. if there are pictures on someone’s site of kids drinking underage or doing something else illegal then it’s a police matter. more importantly, i felt like the media/people who handed down this decision made it sound as though all LHS kids were posting nude pictures of themselves smoking a cigarette with a beer can in the other while on top of someone else, which is obviously not the truth. to get to one entry that even mentioned drugs, alcohol, or sex you would have to read through 500 cases of “mindy and i went to the mall this weekend and i got the cutest skirt…” etc.
i guess i just don’t feel that it’s the school’s right to but into kid’s lives like this.
No way! That’s a violation of our Constitutional rights. I doubt the students there will tolerate it… I know I wouldn’t, and the United States Supreme Court shouldn’t, either.
From the crappy content that I’ve seen on blogs, no teen student should ever be allowed to blog. Most of them are just too stupid.
Hmm the moral and legal conflicts are interesting. Reguardless, I speculate that age is the biggest card played against the position.
No. There’s no connection.
the only situation in which this should reasonably apply would be if the description of activities or pictures posted deals with illegal activities which occur at school-related functions. I personally believe this is in response to the pictures which surfaced in regards to the women’s soccer team at Northwestern University and their hazing of rookie members. since Northwestern is in Illinois it makes even more sense. However, returning to the issue at hand, while there is an invasion of privacy in this type of legislation, we must keep in mind that the intended targets of this law are minors, and thus subject to different definitions of privacy. Again, however, the school has NO jurisdiction over anything that happens at events unrelated to school business. In Northwestern’s case, I believe it was on-campus, and expressly forbidden by the school’s code of conduct, and consequently the students all but indicted themselves when they posted the photos online. Had this occured off-campus at a non-school event, I believe the school would have no right to regulate it. At that point, it really does become the parents’ responsibility. However, again, by that time, all the participants were legal adults, and consequently capable of making their own decisions. As a society we cannot keep absolving parents and individuals of responsibility, because it means they will become less and less responsible. The county, in drafting this legislation and not specifying school-sponsored events, has essentially decided to absolve parents of responsibility.
Makes no sense to monitor only those who participate in extracurricular activities.
But, hey, if you are gonna post something on the world-wide-web, you need to be prepared for the consequences.