Instead of Banning, Why Not Teach Appropriate Use?

If I were a student at Msgr. McHugh's highschool, I would be facing suspension for the crime of keeping this blog. 

MySpace is popular with the highschool and under set.  There's a similar phenomenon, called The Facebook,

The Facebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at schools.

Anyone with an email address ending in .edu may sign up.  The members are categorized by their respective schools.  Members may place a picture of themselves as well as information about who they are. Students can also join clubs for people with common interests and other students can post messages on their respective "walls."

Rather than banning these kinds of networks, universities are starting to teach students how to use them responsibly.

In Universities Ponder Facebook Etiquette, Sarah Schweitzer detailed some hazards of too-great candor.  One girl's marijuana use was revealed to her grandmother.  In Facebook's Greek Drama,  foolish youths planning a booze party using the service were busted; the article also covers how the Greeks (fraternities and sororities) are using the service to screen out undesirables.

As the Facebook has become a phenomenon at schools across the country — a virtual bible for campus socializing and networking — the unintended consequences of overly comprehensive, brutally frank, or mischievous entries are surfacing.

Tufts, Boston College, Boston University, and Brandeis have orientation sessions for students on how not to reveal too much:

telling students to consider future employers, professors, or family members who might read Facebook entries. Indeed, some Brandeis administrators said at the meeting — to open-mouthed reactions of students attending — that they have begun reading Facebook entries before hiring a student for campus positions.

“It’s not appropriate for us to be policing the site,” said Alwina Bennett, the associate dean of students at Brandeis. “But we do need to educate them about how to make good choices and foresee consequences.”

How big is Facebook?

After opening membership to almost anyone with a .edu e-mail address, Facebook gained more than 4 million registered profiles, spanning upwards of 1,500 colleges nationwide.

One student had an example of how Facebook has worked for her:

University of Alabama student Caroline Hubbard states that, "I personally couldn’t imagine life without the Facebook now.... Because I was an out of state student, I had many friends at other schools that were already on it...... rarely a day goes by that I don’t check the Facebook, and my friends are the same way. Although now that I’m a college graduate, the Facebook has, to me, evolved from an interactive college yearbook to an invaluable networking tool for the job world."

The article goes on to point out that it helps members stay in touch after they graduate and go off to different areas.

Bowling Green columnist D.J. Johnson had a list of ten common Facebook faux pas
I particularly liked:

Tip 2: Do not put any information that you don't want computer geeks to take advantage of. In reality, just by having your e-mail address and a picture online makes the rest of your life pretty accessible to the entire school. Don't make it any easier by putting your phone number.

Tip 4: Don't create or join groups of which you wouldn't be proud to tell your mother you're an “active” member. Being a member of “Drink Irresponsibly … or Don't Drink at All” or “I Like to Put My Hands Down My Pants” isn't going to help you pick up any women. It's just gross.

Kansas State faculty have various views:

Tony Jurich, K-State professor of family studies and human service, said it's easy for Facebook users to get caught up in a groupthink mentality where a mildly outrageous content leads to a more outrageous content until -- like the childhood game "telephone" -- content reaches hyperbolic proportions. But that "feeding frenzy" is also part of what makes it appealing.

Fred B. Newton, director of K-State's counseling services, said

"I know this has been a source of concern when roommates find they have been talked about publicly concerning what they consider to be personal matters," Newton said.

They offer these common-sense tips:

• Don't put an address or phone number on profiles.
• Don't register an on-campus party. Have an invitation-only guest list.
• Make sure the "friend" option is set so that only people confirmed as friends can see your profile.
• Manage wall messages to keep out personal information.
• Displaying a class schedule reveals when you are and aren't at home. Don't reveal information about when you or roommates will be out of town. Use discretion about filling out summer/vacation plans.
• Realize that posting photographs makes them public property.

Rollins College became part of Facebook, and Residential Life staff started using the service to enforce campus policies against underage alcohol use, in particular.
That move hasn't been popular with students:

Students who break policies need to be punished; there is no way around this. Thus, Residential Life is simply doing its job in finding students who publicly disobey policy. The way in which Residential Life is doing this is through online anonymous reports placed through their website. Thus, someone is snitching on students, finding their pictures and turning them in.

I applaud this school for trying to change a negative reputation. However, I do not applaud snooping on students. Yet, students with pictures of themselves breaking policy are just as much at fault.