Schools should not censor students's social media content.

July 2, 7:43 AMSocial Media ExaminerHeather Shoenberger

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An article in the ABA Journal (6/09) by Wendy Davis brought up one of the downsides of social media. People have often used their newspapers, letters, emails, etc . to voice their opinions. Young adults have, as Davis points out, used underground newspapers or passed notes between friends in an effort to express themselves. Now, with the emergence of social media, the audience for those expressions has greatly expanded. The question is raised: do school officials have the right to censor the internet use of their students?

Students who have posted messages about fellow students, school administrators and others are now subject to school discipline. In the ABA article, a teen was suspended from school when a student created a “fake profile of his school’s principal.” The student then sued over a breach of his first amendment rights. Davis notes that “lawsuits like” this “are playing out all over the country.”

Exposure and embarrassment may be the driving forces behind the school censorship. The principal finds a site parodying him on Myspace - or more likely his seven year old find that site- and the principal is immediately embarrassed and concerned that collegues and others will view the site. Not to mention, the possibility of the site undermining an administrator’s authority.

Judges have yet to discern a “bright line rule” on the issue of when a student’s Myspace or social media use off campus can be censored on campus. Davis includes a quote by Judge Terrence McVerry who said, “The mere fact that the internet may be accessed at school does not authorize school officials to become censors of the world wide web.”

Administrators may need to find themselves struggling to find the appropriate way to address the presence of social media. However, students’ free speech rights as manifested on social media should not be censored by schools. A school’s role is to educate during school hours and to allow parents and guardians to educate during the “off campus” hours.

While, there are likely many student sites that are less than respectful, clamping down on free speech as it relates to social media will stifle the intellectual growth of our young adults.