Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Public School Nazis?

School District to Monitor Student Blogs - Yahoo! News: "LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. - High school students are going to be held accountable for what they post on blogs and on social-networking Web sites such as MySpace.com.

The board of Community High School District 128 voted unanimously on Monday to require that all students participating in extracurricular activities sign a pledge agreeing that evidence of 'illegal or inappropriate' behavior posted on the Internet could be grounds for disciplinary action.

The rule will take effect at the start of the next school year, officials said.

District officials won't regularly search students' sites, but will monitor them if they get a worrisome tip from another student, a parent or a community member.

Mary Greenberg of Lake Bluff, who has a son at Libertyville High School, argued the district is overstepping its bounds.

'I don't think they need to police what students are doing online,' she said. 'That's my job. . .'"

About that First Amendment...

1 comment:

Ontario Emperor said...

I can see how First Amendment concerns apply to "inappropriate" behavior, but I don't see how they would apply to "illegal" behavior. If someone writes something about illegal behavior, they should be liable for their actions.

It should also be noted that no right of privacy applies to public postings on the Web.

More here.