I took a particular interest in this topic because I know of someone who had an experience described in Bahrampour and Antari’s article. A high school student I knew posted a negative comment related to another student’s death on My Space. The student was immediately suspended for nine days. I could not believe the school could have the authority to suspend or expel students for posting comments on the internet.
I believe that the internet should be used with a user’s discretion; what you post can be viewed by anyone even the person you would least want to see it. Obviously this issue will be very serious considering that the internet is used extensively in today’s society. Some may contest that singling out students because of an internet document is infringing upon their right to freedom of speech. Students should be aware that there is no such thing as real “freedom of speech,” everything has peripherals and guidelines. I can not walk into a crowded theater and yell, “Fire!” and not expect my actions not to have repercussions. Although I should not be silenced because I believe in something.
I also believe that disciplinary action should exist if it may lead to the physical harm of another student, not emotional harm. Everyone gets their feelings hurt sometimes but one has to move on. If you’re offended by a web posting then simply ignore it. The internet would not exist if people could not post whatever they wanted upon it (or it would just contain spam and advertisements). I don’t understand how someone can talk negatively about a dead student and get suspended but he could have also joined an online extremist group with no penalty. Too much emotional attachment can lead to censorship, which can lead to the downfall of the internet.
4 comments:
Yes, high schools and junior high schools get pretty nutty about this stuff; but I've seen some very weird posts at that level, and if I were the principal or tech director, I'd have had some issues. It's a close call - but it should be used as a teaching moment not an excuse for more punishment.
wow, interesting story about the repercussions of the myspace posting. very true that this stuff can and will happen. is it that hard to be careful of what you post? i don't think so as i think it's simple to think about what you're going to say before you post it. it's pretty stupid not to. definitely a very important issue, and you discussed it very well.
I agree with you that there should definitely be user discretion when posting things online. However, not all people are able to think abstractly to see how posting something could inevitably yield much larger consequences. I do think that there should be some regulation of the internet.
I’ve always found that schools seem to be very inconsistent when it comes to dealing with situations like these. They’re skirting on the line between disciplining their students and violating their rights. Perhaps this explains why they’re so inconsistent with how they proceed with such matters.
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