Comments on: When Public Schools Become Big Brother

By: Joanne Bamberger

Joanne Bamberger — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:14:00 +0000

I confess I have mixed feeling about this. Having lives through an episode of our daughter being bullied through E-mails and G-chats in a way that was directly related to what was going on in school. Sadly, social media tools are just another way for kids to bully our children as many of us were bullied in “old fashioned” ways when we were kids.

By: Nicole @ FinanceDiva.com

Nicole @ FinanceDiva.com — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 04:36:00 +0000

I would have to agree it crosses the line. The school is responsible for keeping my kidlets safe at school, but I am responsible for everything outside of the school. The school and the parents should work together to encourage children to achieve greatness instead of the school and the parents working against each other.

By: jessica @peekababy

jessica @peekababy — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:41:00 +0000

It seems that it’s the parents’ job to police their children’s internet activity…I would be furious if my kids’ school was following them around online after hours!

By: Elizabeth Parker

Elizabeth Parker — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:56:00 +0000

Agreed … if they wanted to monitor kids using their social media while AT school, I’m not sure I could find as many faults with that. But using it while not in school is ridiculous.

By: Amiyrah Martin

Amiyrah Martin — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:47:00 +0000

I can see where they THINK they are going with this, but it’s a violation of privacy, plain and simple. Hopefully they’ll see it as such before the lawsuits start up.

By: Cinny

Cinny — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:22:00 +0000

I think that’s too much to be monitoring their social media interactions outside of school. They do have a private life…

By: Jennifer Williams

Jennifer Williams — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:24:00 +0000

I think the only time they would need to look at this is if online bullying is being carried over into school activities and they need to build a case against the bully. Otherwise, they need to mind their own business and concentrate on educating, not policing.

By: JulieK

JulieK — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:04:00 +0000

This definitely crosses a line for me. While I know that schools and teachers can act in locus parenti, social media is supposed to have privacy settings and I feel like unless the student is engaging IN THE BUILDING then the school can’t do anything. Now, with bullying, the police can always get involved to investigate IF NEEDED, but there does not need to be 24/7 monitoring of student accounts. I know bullying is a huge issue these days, but bullying has always been around, and the fact is, the GOOD KIDS are getting punished if this happens. The BULLIES will just continue to bully or find a new way to harass other kids. So once, again, applying more rules and restrictions does not solve the problem. It just limits the freedoms of “law abiding” students. Furthermore, as a teacher myself, this is a HUGE distraction to what we were hired to do. I did not sign up to be a social referee, I signed up to teach kids to read and write effectively, and inside of that, I always taught proper and kind communication with words, but if I had to constantly monitor my students social interactions, this would distract me from the teaching and learning environment. Ok…sorry this was so long, it is a topic that just gets under my skin and it felt good to have my ramble! Thanks for writing on this important topic!

By: Jessica Hunt

Jessica Hunt — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:59:00 +0000

I agree. I think that the school has no business monitoring students social media pages or accounts. I understand if someone is bullying a fellow classmate/teacher/staff member, or making threats. But I can see a student complaining about the school and them getting disciplined about it, which is bull because, everyone has a right to complain. It is just like how some employers are asking for their employees fb passwords. Its non or their business.