Cyber-Snooping by Schools and other Bodies? Privacy issue?

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I found this cyber-snooping article. I realize it is about
adolesence and usage, but look beyond that in how it
affects adults as well in policy and cyber-snooping?

Both the safety issue expressed by the school, and the response by MySpace, represent what I see as being foremost a liability issue. Problem is, for both the school and MySpace, if someone acted with violence after reading the posts, the school & site might (according to applicable laws) be sued for allowing such communication. Or in the least, receive some heavily damning publicity (I guess we needn't go into the experience Alex prolly has in this area?).

Though I think the disciplining of students simply for viewing the page was heavy-handed; I doubt you can expect kids to abstain from viewing content which, even if on its face (the MySpace group name) appears inappropriate. Kids need chances to learn without having to fear severe punishments (in my opinion).

Sure, avoiding liability, simply covering one's keister, can be a chickensh*t response to issues of free speech, but freedom of speech is hardly an issue when schools are held responsible (by the public at least) for the content they allow minors to view. And by "other bodies" I presume you mean employers... their ability to monitor employees' activities has been consistently upheld by US courts even beyond the workplace (think pee-testing).

Regardless how free we might want speech to be, the fact of media is that the gatekeepers - those owining the wires - have to make judgment calls regarding the risk they face for allowing speech that is potentially damaging. In determining what constitutes potentially damaging speech, gatekeepers will in most instances take the more conservative route out of simple self-preservation.

I agree everybody just wants to cover themselves fear of being sued is whats killing free speach. The article didnt say they used or viewed on school computers. If something like this happens it should be brought to the parents attention and they should deal with it. BTW I am agaist drug screening too and wish the courts saw it my way. Not at work not a Problem.

only 7 votes

This to me is wrong in so many ways.

First of all, when and where does the authority of the school begin and end? If I have a computer and internet connection I paid for in my home, shouldn't it be MY decision what it should and shouldn't be used for? Where do they get off telling students or anyone else for that matter what they can and can't look at on their own time? That school has no right to discipline students for simply using their own computers in their own homes on their own time.

The fact the school finds the material objecitonable doesn't mean they have the right to tell the students they can't see it. I wonder if a student checks out a book on the school's banned book list from the public library, reads it at home, doesn't bring it to school, etc., and the school somehow finds out, will that student be punished for that? Not quite the same example I know but if they have the authority to punish for what was in the story, couldn't it expand further? If a child wants to read something on their own time, it's none of the school's business pure and simple.

This kind of thing is nothing new, I felt like some schools were sticking their noses into areas of my life that were none of their business even when I was a kid, and it seems like it's still going on, only worse. Some thought I'd grow up and out of this way of thinking, but I haven't.

With this police state mentality only expanding, it might be best to start surfing anonymously from now on. You never know what will be a thought crime next.

I had one friend growing up, and now I know she suffered from selective mutism. Although I guess you can't say "suffered" since she selected the when and where. At home, she was as loud mouthed as any of us kids. At school, no teacher or kid ever heard a word out of her. We were in the same classes until our 4th grade teacher decided it wasn't "healthy" and split us up for 5th grade. My friend still didn't talk, and I made no other friends. So then the 5th grade teachers told all the kids (while we were in the library, our fave place during recess) to be our best friends. It was AWFUL....

I guess you could say we got the last laugh - all those years in the library - she and I both got 1400's on the SAT's and were brought up on stage during an assembly in front of the whole school. Not really fun for us, but we got scholarship money, etc.

While I am definitely NT, I have what I'd call "social issues" - that is from the perspective of outsiders. I'm perfectly happy, and it's probably why my marriage to an aspie has worked so well!

I think that school districts and such are overstepping their boundaries. I think that what people put on the internet should be ignored for a large part of things. Certainly threats might be looked at and addressed(not necessarily punished though because it is more likely that we bring down the hammer unnecessarily), however, most trivial little things should be ignored. I think that to the greatest extent this is not too common, but it should be less so.