Monitoring Student Blogs
A school district near Chicago has just decided to start monitoring student blogs to find illegal and inappropriate materal. If a student is found owning or participating in such a site, his right to participate in extracurricular activities (like sports or fine arts) may be revoked.
Some have responded and said that this violates the civil rights of students. Community High School District 128 Associate Superintendent Prentiss Lea, however, has a different view:
“The concept that searching a blog site is an invasion of privacy is almost an oxymoron,” he said. “It is called the World Wide Web.”
Others, like Alex Koroknay-Palicz of the National Youth Rights Association, think that it demonstrates fear of youth culture:
“Just like they were scared of Elvis with his hip thrusts, they’re scared of rock music, they’re scared of punk music,” he said. “They’re scared of anything new that comes along that young people embrace.”
Personally, I monitor student blogs all the time … not necessarily as an authority figure, but as a friend and mentor. I want to encourage my kiddos’ use of online publishing and help them to make good decisions on the Internet … and what better way to do it than to spend time being there with them? From what I’ve found, however, most adults choose to do the opposite. They avoid engaging with the online world of their kids (for various lame reasons). And, as a result, our children are left alone a vast, unmonitored, and unfenced playground.
It’s great to see school systems that care about the whole child and are willing to go out of their way to ensure their safety both in and out of school. I think you’re going to see many such stories in the next year … and, as Lea claims, it will only increase the dialogue about a very misunderstood part of our culture:
“By adding the blog sites (to the student codes of conduct), we wanted to raise discussions on the issue,” he said. “We have taken the first steps to starting that conversation.”
Bravo.
May 24th, 2006 at 7:04 pm EST
just the other day my friend got called to the office just because she had her name on her blog
May 25th, 2006 at 10:34 am EST
the thing that makes me leery of this monitoring is that “inappropriate” is a completely subjective term. then again, if you make a laundry list definition of what is in/appropriate, it may turn into a “how far can i push the envelope” sort of thing.
browsing as an authority figure, as opposed to a mentor, is a completely different feel. if it’s done well, then bravo. if it’s not it may be a whole ‘nother can of worms. we shall see.
May 25th, 2006 at 12:17 pm EST
It had better not be subjective … I would hate to work at a school where “inappropriate” was not clearly defined. That would be horrible both for the students and for the authority figures!
The reality is that most schools, from what I’ve found at technology conferences and online, already keep an eye on student blogs … just as they check the contents of lockers, pay attention to behavior in public places, and help to deal with conflicts between students outside of school. It may not be their responsibility to do these things, but it’s definitely part of the kids’ education.
The unusual thing about this school in Illinois is that they chose to hold a press conference about it!
May 31st, 2006 at 6:28 pm EST
Two things:
Should schools act as police forces? In my opinion their purpose for being is to teach kids, not to monitor what they do 24 hours a day 7 days a week and punish them for it. That’s the job of police and parents. Schools should stick to education.
If however schools want to play the part of a police force then they should be forced to abide by the same proceedural guidelines and Constitutional protections that police follow. A picture of an adult smoking a joint isn’t sufficient evidence for the police to arrest that person, so neither should it be sufficient evidence for a school to expel or kick a student off the football team.
Schools can’t have it both ways.
In most cases this isn’t about being a good neighbor, its about sticking one’s nose where it doesn’t belong and doing real things to harm the lives of students subjected to it. The punishments students receive in school really do have an effect on their entire lives. There is absolutely no reason for what a student does on their own time to be the jurisdiction of schools.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:33 pm EST
KPalicz, I appreciate your visit and comment. It’s great to get ideas and feedback from the other side of issues, especially from someone on the “front lines”.
First, your comments imply that schools shouldn’t have rules about non-educational issues. I don’t think that’s what you meant … you’re talking about non-school hours, non-school-realted activities, and things that happen off school property, right? Any school administrator (and parent, for that matter) would laugh at the idea that they weren’t allowed to enforce rules about non-curricular matters (”I know he punched you, Johnny … but what does that have to do with science or math?”). Even so, that’s a fine line to draw with minors …
Second, I’d be interested to hear your definition of “education” in the context that you’re using it. From your comments, I’d guess that it’s something along the lines of “a system that helps students aquire information”. As you’re probably aware, however, educators today are expected to do much more than that … they’re expected to teach the “whole child”, to generalize knowledge to everyday life, and to ensure students’ future success. Until college educational courses, federal law, and basic educational philosophy change dramatically, teachers are going to be expected to reach into the everyday lives of students. Then again, this is probably the exact uphill battle that your organization is fighting!
Finally, I didn’t mention in the original post that I teach at a private school … and one that takes the social, ethical, social, spiritual and physical well-being of our students very seriously. Parents send their children to CHCA because they want us to be involved in helping students grow in every aspect of their lives … and I, for one, teach here (in part) because I believe that it is essential to avoid compartmentalization in young lives. If families have a problem with this, they’re welcome to go educate their child somewhere else … and as everyone understands from the beginning, the school can freely ask them to go somewhere else to do so.
So, by definition, I’m approaching this issue from a very different point-of-view. I suppose that there are other schools that are trying to do “real things to harm the lives of students” … and, in that case, I applaud your efforts to hold those schools accountable (though I’d suggest that you clarify/justify your argument a bit). I’m just happy to be in a country and in a school where I have the freedom to care for my students completely!
November 14th, 2007 at 9:54 pm EST