Facebook "Censorship" Justified?

Do students have the right to say whatever they want about the school outside of it? This very question became a topic of debate recently, as a result of some controversial Facebook behavior. (I personally don’t have a Facebook account, so whether or not I even have a right to talk about it is at the discretion of the reader). As I understand it, some EMHS students created a few Facebook groups, some attacking teachers and some attacking the entire school. Once the administration found out, those who created the groups were told, by the school, to remove them, only to have a “We Have Opinions” group started in the aftermath.

I feel that the school was entirely justified in requesting the removal of the offending groups. Before you go pulling the First Amendment card, think for a second about what’s at stake. In a few years, when students are applying to colleges and getting jobs, the people looking over their resumes will, I promise you, Google their names. The price of all their offending comments back in their Facebooking days will become immediately obvious. I don’t think that the school should be so harshly criticized for making students remove something that will probably become a bane for them in the future.

For another, I personally don’t think that “freedom of speech” vindicates overtly publishing something that is offensive or hurtful, especially when the publishers are high school students. (As I pointed out already, just because we have the right to do something, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea or that we should be allowed to do it – in the same way that a parent should stop a little child about to stick his finger in a light socket, even if the child knows what he’s doing). The school hasn’t stopped any students from forming or joining “Just War” groups or any other groups which may disagree with the school’s policy, so they can hardly be accused of infringing free speech or beating down those with differing opinions. Rather, the school stepped in when insensitive and immature things were being said.

Some of you may also scream “Public relations!” and accuse the school of only wanting the offending groups removed because they could hurt the school’s reputation. That’s one point I’ll give you – and “I Hate EMHS” group started by the students doesn’t say a lot in favor of our school. However, EMHS, more so than maybe most public schools, relies on its reputation to get funding, students, and a lot of what it needs to stay open. While requesting the removal of the Facebook groups for the sake of reputation might not have been the “right” thing to do, I doubt that it was the school’s only reason, and I’m willing to let it go.

In short, I’m not about to blame the school for its censoring. If the removal of an offensive Facebook group could indeed be considered a First Amendment violation, then perhaps I am a poor patriot. I certainly wouldn’t support the school if it decided to edit the Windsock before it was published or control what went into Eclectia. However, in the case of an “I Hate EMHS” Facebook group, I’m willing to give the administration some grace. –Whitney Showalter, Co-Editor

Comments

[Ellen Brodersen]

Well done article on a interesting but difficult topic.