"What you say online could haunt you"

After reading this article and discussing it in a worksheet, I believe that school administrators and college admission workers should not be permitted to have a Facebook or MySpace for the purpose of checking up on students. First of all, if a student was found doing something inappropriate or illegal in pictures or on posts it is unconstitutional to discipline or fire them according to that evidence. The school's authorities do not extend past the point of school, unless it is the case of a private school where a contract is signed for the students to give up their rights to school officials. Also, I think that even disciplining someone based on these websites would not necessarily affect the school environment in a positive way. That sort of action is more likely to disrupt the system than help. Of course, there are always the exceptions of potentially dangerous situations in the case of firearms or other signs of actions that could danger the student body or society. Lastly, always checking up and monitoring students' profiles inhibits the right to freedom of speech and expression. In a sense, these online sites were created for students to reflect themselves (or not), and with schools constantly watching over, they would be hesitant to personalize their profiles and other aspects of the site. Overall, allowing administrators the privilege to discipline or fire people based on Facebook or MySpace is a violation of rights, expression, and ineffective.