Monitoring Students Online Speech: Is It Too Far?

I am sure by now that most of you are aware of the issues involved with social media when being used by teenagers. Recently, Glendale Unified, a school, announced that they have hired Geo Listening to monitor their student’s online social media behaviors and use. Is this a violation of privacy? That was my first question. Turns out the answer is no because most of these teenagers have public profiles and make public postings. This why I am always stressing to young social media users the importance of locking profiles and always updating privacy settings. You have a digital footprint people and once it is out there, it cannot be erased.

Glendale Unified says they want to monitor cyber bullying, suicides, drugs and other things. While I agree that cyber bullying is QUICKLY becoming a huge issue that has led to several suicides in the past year among teenagers, is it the schools responsibility and right to monitor this through social media? The school claims it is looking for students violating the school conduct codes, but if this free speech is happening outside of school, then how is that a violation?

I think this school is treading on a very thin line and I do not see this social media monitoring as a step in the right direction. While I understand they are trying to be proactive and protect students, I think there are other measures that could be taken. For example, why not spend the $40,000 they are currently paying the Geo Listening on education programs to teach parents and caregivers how to best identify depression and abuse? Why not spend this money on increased security in the school to protect students from possible threats? I am sure as you can tell how I feel about the issue ha-ha. I believe in free speech, even if that speech is hateful. I think it is wrong to hurt people through speech, especially on social media, and I think it is an issue that should be addressed and hopefully one day stopped. However, I think there are more efficient steps that can be taken to protect teenagers from the dangers of online communication and use.