School Internet Policies

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Recommended: Why free speech is important to students

Students today receive discipline from school officials for expressing their opinions online. On social media sites, some school administrators monitor students’ activity using fake accounts to pry into their lives. However, schools do not have the authority to punish students for what they post on the internet when off campus. Since high school students use social networking sites to connect with others and express their ideas, school officials should not discipline students for what they post online because students have a right to freedom of expression, they have a right to privacy, and they have their own parents to monitor them.
In 1960, the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District case provided a strong protection for student speech that did not cause substantial disruption (Belnap). Schools cannot restrain student speech unless it "substantially interferes with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school (Morse)." Unfortunately, students have been denied their rights, “At schools throughout the country, students are being suspended for comments posted about their school, peers, or pictures showing illegal or inappropriate things such as underage drinking” (Thompson). Most schools currently have filters installed so students cannot access social media and inappropriate sites while on school grounds (“Internet”). Additionally, at some point in history, Congress believed they could control what people could see on web sites.
Today educators who monitor students on social media, find advantages to watching students online, but can face some legal issues. If schools monitor student activity online, they can take action against cyber bullying. Also, students who perform illegal ...

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...eceive discipline and help (Thompson). Cyber bullying issues receive attention; the tormentor receives discipline and the victims receive assistance (Blacher). Students also think twice about what they post online, and learn they cannot hurt someone without consequences.
School officials do not have the authority to punish students for what they post on the internet. Students have a right to freedom of expression and cannot receive punishment for their opinions they post online. Students also have a right to privacy; schools should not pry into their lives which occur out of the school learning environment. Finally, parents have the responsibility to give their children guidance on the internet, and discipline them for any inappropriate actions they perform. Schools dictating students’ lives would corrupt their views, and wrongly influence the generations to come.

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