Technology

“Monitoring sites with a hawkeye”

Social networks have been a hot topic of discussion for a while now and they ought to be. This is kind of a hard topic for me to discuss just because I have very mixed feelings about it. I wish that students could be trusted with their taste of what is appropriate and what is not. Students should get the benefit of the doubt and be able to roam the internet and their social networks freely. But sadly, in the world we live in today, most kids ruin all the trust they have instilled in them by parents, teachers, etc. in many ways, not just Internet abuse. Because of this, I think it is right for administrators to monitor students’ social profiles if anything relating to their school is affiliated with it. If the student does not associate his/her profile with their school, or does not use school property to visit their social network, I think it is their own right to have social networks and put whatever they want on them. But when it gets to a very fine point, administrators, friends, or parents should step in to try to urge the student to correct the errors.
I admit, I do have a Facebook, but I try extremely hard, and I think I do a fairly decent job, to keep everything that should not be out in the public off of my profile. I have encountered many social profiles that give students bad names. It is these people, the people with no shame, who are the reasons students lose the trust that we will do the right thing.
I think University has a good policy. If the student gets a computer through the school, the school or its administrators have the right to check up on their students every once in a while. But if a student uses his/her own computer, they have the right to do whatever they want with their social profiles. And if it reaches a point where other students or parents are coming in raising questions about a student’s profile and it’s appropriateness, further measures can be taken at the school’s discretion. It is a very touchy subject and I think every school should have the right to make their own decisions on their course of action.