Monitoring of My Space.
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| Sat, 01-28-2006 - 10:58am |
I'm conflicted in regard to how I feel about authority figures monitoring My Space. A recent newspaper article reported how a local school is disiplining a group of cheerleaders in response to things they found on My Space.
As a parent, I like that there is another set of eyes out there watching out for our kids and monitoring their behavior. However, the side of me that believes in individual rights, is bothered by the Big Brother effect. Do schools have a right to monitor their students after school affairs and then proceed to disipline the students? As much as I want to know what my kids are up to, I'm not sure that I want the schools or other local authorities to know. I'd like to take care of problems on my own and not be forced to take a certain course of action by some outside source.
What do you all think about this? I don't want to start an arguement. I'm just curious as to where most parents stand on this issue.
Mily

I think you raise a good question - but not unique to myspace. Aren't there periodically stories in the news about athletic teams monitoring students' off-school behavior? I'm not saying I agree with the monitoring, just saying that myspace just makes things easier (things that were happening all along). I am increasingly concerned about personal liberties these days, and I think HS students are at particular risk (not adults yet, sometimes a gray area in terms of parental/school rights and responsibility), so I agree with you there. OTOH, I have somewhat mixed feelings. If students (members of a club or team) do something that affects the whole team (reputation, ability to compete) then maybe the coach has a right to discipline?
OK, was this muddled enough?? As I re-read, I can see my own indecision. I guess in general I don't like the idea that a coach or principal is secretly monitoring kids' internet use. However, if they were informed of a specific incident (e.g., a cheerleader is posing nude on her myspace page), they would be irresponsible not to look into it.
Sue
I think that the part that has been left out is the students agreement with the school. When cheerleader (or anyone else in that kind of position) takes the role of leadership in their school, there are expectations about their behavior. Not only are there expectations, but there is an agreement, usually written, between the student and the school that they will not engage in XYZ activities. Some of those things may be that the student can't smoke/drink/do drugs/engage in sexual activities. The student agrees to this. So, if one of those things is that they will use their internet space/time wisely, in a leadership way, then they also know that those things will be monitored. These kids are the schools peer leaders and need to act as such. So, if they agreed not to use foul language or partake of porn and they write f-ing this and that with pictures of themselves all over in sugestive poses, then they have broken their end of the contract and need to be dealt with accordingly.
These students you are talking about aren't just every day, run of the mill students, they are cheerleaders. If it was just a bunch of kids who go to school together, eat lunch together and get together on the weekends sometimes, then I would have a real problem with their behavior IRL or in cyberspace being monitored. I'd bet, though, that these kids all had contracts or agreements when they decided to be cheerleaders and that is why they have been monitors and disciplined.
I was thinking the same thing when I read this.
Students participating in any school sport have to sign an agreement that they won't participate in use of drugs, drinking, etc. Also, if a student on a team is found at a party with alchohal/drugs, then the student can be kicked off the team even if they weren't using themselves.
But other than that, I don't think it's right.
Mily,
Good question. Here's my take: Once something is posted on the world wide web, it is no longer a private matter. If a student thinks "I'd like to put rat poison in my math teacher's coffee", it's a private thought. If the student writes that in her journal and her mom finds it, it's a little less private and mom has a decision to make. If the student puts that sentiment in her myspace then it's out there for the math teacher, her priest, Aunt Betty and some random people in Norway to read. It's no longer private. Is it a threat to the math teacher? Maybe. And I think it is completely within the rights of the prinicpal to take action.
I'm in the "it takes a village to raise a child" camp. I'm old enough to remember a time when it was not uncommon for a neighbor to open the screen door and give well-deserved dressing-down to a kid who may have temporarily forgotten his manners.
With the technology that is at our kid's fingertips and the associated dangers and opporutnities for bad behavior, we need to be vigilant - and we need all the help we can get from others.
We need to be moving more in the direction of the village, and less in the direction of making allowances for "rights" that our teens are just not ready to handle.
jt
I think it depends on the context of the site. If the page says clearly that it is the Cheerleaders of Central HS (even if it isn't part of the official school website) then we can assume a connection and think that the content on that site reflects on the school. If it is a page of a girl who says that she is a cheerleader at Central HS then I would think that it was her personal page and that the content did not necessarily reflect the views etc of Central HS.
In the first case the school has the right to discipline the students if the content is inappropriate or breaks the Zero Tolerance agreement or any other agreement that the students may have signed with the school. In the second case I don't think that it is the school's business what a student posts. If a teacher or administrator happens to see something inappropriate on a students page then a "courtesy call" to the parent would be appropriate, and the parent can then take action or not.
Part of the concern is how the school finds out about this stuff. If a concerned student alerts a teacher about it that is one thing; if an administrator is browsing the students' pages and profiles that is another, one that I personally don't care to see my tax dollars going towards. If a student is writing threatening things about staff or other students the school should contact the police. The school and police can work with MySpace to get the objectionable content removed and the police can work with the parents; MySpace has an agreement of Terms of Use that prohibits posting nudity, violence and objectionable content. The problem with just telling the parent is that some parents won't do anything... but I still don't think that the school should get involved with monitoring the kids in what they do off-campus and outside of school hours.
I think it would be a good idea for schools to alert parents about MySpace and similar sites, explain how the sites work and the dangers, and suggest ways for parents to monitor their child's activity. Provide this as a service just as some schools offer parenting workshops, college aid seminars etc.
JMHO
I have to tell you, quite honestly, that I find this discussion very interesting.
I have a myspace account and have had one for about a year - I created it last year when I saw that I could not monitor my son's activity without having one of my own.
Lest I be looked at as the parent who wants too much control, a little background. I have two gay teenage boys (14 and 17) - both in relationships. My children have their fair amount of privacy - I don't walk in on them when they're in the shower, monitor or listen to their phone conversations, stand over them when they're on the computer, and knock on their bedroom doors before entering.
Neither of my children has a curfew, and they get a lot of freedom - as long as I know where they're going and with whom, I'm ok. We spend a good deal of time together, and I spend a good deal of time with their friends of whom I know 85-90%. Many of their friends are MY friends on myspace--THEY have requested ME, not the other way around.
It amazes me how much indescretion is posted on the internet. I read my children's myspace, their FRIENDS' myspace, and THEIR friends' myspace - I find references to smoking pot behind the library, constant comments from 15 and 16 year olds about how drunk they got last night, posting of addresses, phone numbers, dorm rooms, etc. If I wanted to get my sons' friends in trouble, it would take one phone call.
My son made the comment that "it's MY journal, and it's none of your business." To which I replied, "it's NOT private when it's on the internet - you want a private journal, buy a book and a pen, and I promise I won't open it." I also got quite upset when I made him go into his "friends only" blog to find out he had advertised to his "online" buddies parts of my private life I wanted to keep private.
The internet is NOT private - which means kids' postings can be read by anyone - parents, teachers, or the pedophile in the next town. I believe it is our OBLIGATION to monitor what our kids are doing online and even to question them. I regularly go through my son's myspace and randomly ask him who "friends" are - if he can't identify them, I delete them. Too imposing? I found a 52 year old man among my son's "friends" - when I contacted the man directly and asked why he wanted to be friends with a 16 year old boy, he gave a lame excuse - when I looked at HIS friends, they were all teenage gay boys.
Kids think nothing bad can happen to them - they think they are indesctructible, and they trust everyone - look at your child's AIM away message - 70-75% OF MY SON'S FRIENDS PUT THEIR CELL PHONE NUMBERS ON THEIR AWAY MESSAGES. Children do NOT know about discretion and judgement. The internet and "blogging" is too new - it is our job to protect them and educate them as to the dangers.
I actually created a "fake" myspace - filled out a couple of stupid online surveys, attached myself and one other person as a "friend," and let the internet do the rest. In four months, this "person" had 60 friends - people who had NO reason to be connected to him - and he didn't exist! This time, it was a 45 year old Mom - next time, it could be a serial killer/stalker/pedophile.
Now - as to the whole cheerleading thing. I'm sorry, but again - the internet is NOT private. If you are a representative of a school, or an organization, or anything else, and you want to carry on, do it in private - don't write about it on your "blog." Anyone has the right to view your journal pages - ANYONE - and you can believe if a teacher finds out you've been doing somethng you shouldn't be doing, you'll get in trouble for it.
Teens have been stopped from marching in graduation because they got arrested for underage drinking on prom weekend - this is the same thing.
Let me clarify - I do not believe, in reality, that teenagers are worse than my generation - just more public. We did what we did, but we didn't advertise it - the internet has made that possible.
My father used to say "don't put anything in writing you don't want to see on the front page of the paper" - should change that to the internet.
I don't know what amazes me more - the amount of personal information kids post on the internet, or the fact that most parents don't pay any attention. I'm not all that "special"--I'm a normal mom - yet I guarantee you I know more about my children's activities (and their friend's activities) than any other parent in my town - just cause I spend a few minutes a day paying attention.