Public schools and Facebook

[ckay87]

So.... our Middle School has opened a person-type Facebook account. Not sure if that's the correct term, but I think it's important to note that the account is not set up as an organization or business, but as a person who can be "friended."

Now, my 8th grader says that yesterday the kids were told that they should "friend" this account and it would be used to monitor the kids for cyber-bullying or other activities. Note: that I take this information provided to me BY my 8th grader with a grain of salt. I realize that much of that could have been lost in translation. I don't want this to become a debate as to whether or not he's telling the truth. I fully realize that he may not be.

However, my point is that this strikes me as creepy regardless of what they are using it for. As a person account.....correct me if I'm wrong.... whoever monitors that from the school has full access to the posts & pictures of any kid who friends them, correct? Heck, it goes right into the newsfeed. Is it wrong of me to not want the school (essentially, let's remember, a government institution) peeking in on my kids' personal conversations. Feels like spying; feels like asking for trouble. And if you know anything about middle school drama, you know that more often that not, it is just that: drama. Silly drama at that.

I had my son completely block them and I don't care. Perhaps I am being overly suspicious, but if I were to be real super-careful, I would wonder if it's the school at all. Anyone could set up an account with the name of a school and then have hundreds of pre-teens "friend" them, allowing them access to all types of stuff we parents ask them to block from strangers, you know? Now THAT is creepy.

 

[Erasus]

they're definitely over stepping their boundaries. a friend of mine in HS was throwing up a gang sign in his myspace picture... ended up getting kicked off the football team because of it

 

[ckay87]

I just messaged them to ask for their name. Their person-name.

Know that I'm not one of those weird over-protective parents (by ANY means). In fact, I'll tell you that my kid gets in enough trouble AT school. Much to my dismay - class clown type of stuff and we're actively and constantly working on it. The very last thing he needs is to say something on FB that is misinterpreted.

 

[Buckalew11]

I think you did the right thing for all the right reasons. Yes, I find it creepy and none of their business. Someone's lame-brained idea.

 

[FireDancer]

I could understand wanting the kids to friend them (an organizational account for the school) so they can disseminate news, assignments, and so forth through the Facebook account. That is becoming more and more common. It is easy to block certain content from that particular friend so they wouldn't have access to everything their normal friends have.

It is not the schools job, however, to monitor kids when they are not in school. I can't stand it when I hear stories of the schools getting involved in what the kids do after school. If two kids get in a fight on the weekend for example the school should not get involved in the punishment.

Much like the government schools are trying to creep way too much into our and student's personal lives.

 

[Ceila]

If they were told about it as school, it's probably not some perv who set it up. That being said, I don't think the school needs to be setting up a personal account. IF they want to have an organization account, then that's great. My daughter's elementary school just did this, and we can use it for updates and such. But a personal account? I can't see that working out well in the long run.

 

[ckay87]

I could understand wanting the kids to friend them so they can discriminate news, assignments, and so forth through the Facebook account. That is becoming more and more common.

That's what I thought, too. But then I thought, shouldn't they just create a page rather than a person-account?

But, on the flip side, I wondered....is there a difference between a page and a person-account? If they'd create a page, would that also allow them access to spy on the kids? Because if THAT is the case, my point becomes moot. My kids and I are FB fans (or whatever) of all kinds of businesses, bands, etc. Can the people on the other end of those pages access my pictures and posts (I'm now concerned about my relationship with Slash and Lewis Black )

LOL....leave it to me to make this more complicated than it probably is.

 

[Hoodie]

My sister taught middle school and the teachers would often search facebook and my space for their students. They didn't even friend them, just took what was available. They uncovered a HUGE number of kids sexting and bragging about it, (including ones as young as 11), and pages set up for TILF, pictures of kids with beer and cigarettes. This is a suburan middle school, 10-13 years old.

They had a meeting with all the parents and presented all of it (with names and faces removed) and not one of the parents knew what was going on. It was a really sad commentary on society's parents right now.

So, even if son doesn't "friend" the school (which I wouldn't do), make sure that he has the highest security settings on or they will still be watching him.

 

[DisGirlAllie]

Well that sounds very odd. If the school, or the county itself, wanted to access kid's facebook accounts it wouldn't be that difficult for them. They wouldn't need to friend a bunch of kids to do so.

 

[Scurvy]

However, my point is that this strikes me as creepy regardless of what they are using it for. As a person account.....correct me if I'm wrong.... whoever monitors that from the school has full access to the posts & pictures of any kid who friends them, correct? Heck, it goes right into the newsfeed. Is it wrong of me to not want the school (essentially, let's remember, a government institution) peeking in on my kids' personal conversations. Feels like spying; feels like asking for trouble. And if you know anything about middle school drama, you know that more often that not, it is just that: drama. Silly drama at that.

Whoever runs that account would have access to whatever the children let them see, depending on the privacy settings of each child. You can friend someone and then limit what they can see. You can even set it so they can't see anything more than a non-friend would see. You have to customize your privacy settings, but you could easily let all your real friends see everything on your page and let the school only see your basic information.

Well that sounds very odd. If the school, or the county itself, wanted to access kid's facebook accounts it wouldn't be that difficult for them. They wouldn't need to friend a bunch of kids to do so.

That depends on the kids' privacy settings. If they have their pages set to "friends only" then you have to be their friend to see the page. Of course nothing is completely private online but unless the school or county is going to get into hacking, they have to friend the kids who have good privacy settings or they aren't going to be able to access the accounts.

 

[agnes!]

My resident teenager said to friend the account and then set your security so that your account can't really be seen by the school's. Just customize your privacy settings so that all friends except for the school can see certain things.

And yeah, I do think it's rather creepy.

agnes!

 

[luvmy3]

If its optional then I don't have a problem with it, however if they are requiring the students to sign up for an acct and friend them then thats a different story.

 

[minniebeth]

My question is, who were they told to "friend" the page by? Teachers? The administration?

In our schools, there is a "Technology Agreement" that all students and parents need to sign. It clearly states what the rules and regulations students need to adhere by both in and out of school. (Meaning computer use in school and appropriate use of technology out of school with social media.)

Unless there is a clear communication of what the rules of technology use in and out of school are, I would not have my child be friending anything that could potentially be used against him/her. I've seen decisions made too many times by administrators that suit their situation, sometimes unfairly because there is such ambiguity in the "rules".

I'm a big believer in the fact that parents should be monitoring their children's use of technology, not the schools, unless there is a clear case of cyber bullying or other situation that would harm other kids.

ETA: If the intention of the page is for communication, it's ineffective: why not use the school's website or emails? Not every kid has a FB account and most certainly won't use it for "official" school communication~

 

[castleview]

They think they will prevent cyber bullying by making the kids friend this page that the kids know will be monitored? ooookay.

Do what our neighbor who is an assistant principal does and just lurk on as many students as possible pages to see who is being a bully.

 

[minniebeth]

Do what our neighbor who is an assistant principal does and just lurk on as many students as possible pages to see who is being a bully.

I'm sure a lot of teachers/administrators do this (maybe? don't know when they'd have the time...) but even if they do find someone being somewhat of a bully, what can they do about it? What exactly is considered bullying? There's a fine line...
That's why more schools need to implement a policy and be very specific about what is and what is not acceptable/punishable.

 

[FireDancer]

Do what our neighbor who is an assistant principal does and just lurk on as many students as possible pages to see who is being a bully.

I don't think teachers or administrators should be monitoring what students do outside of school period. That is the responsibility of the parents. Once a child leaves the grounds of the school they are no longer under their authority IMO.

When we were kids if we got in a fight on the baseball field on the weekend it was none of the school's business unless the fight picked back up while we were in school. I feel what is done outside of school in the virtual world should be treated the same way.

 

[SaraJayne]

I don't think teachers or administrators should be monitoring what students do outside of school period. That is the responsibility of the parents. Once a child laves the grounds of the school they are no longer under their authority IMO.

Yup, I totally agree with you.

 

[ckay87]

My question is, who were they told to "friend" the page by? Teachers? The administration?

In our schools, there is a "Technology Agreement" that all students and parents need to sign. It clearly states what the rules and regulations students need to adhere by both in and out of school. (Meaning computer use in school and appropriate use of technology out of school with social media.)

Unless there is a clear communication of what the rules of technology use in and out of school are, I would not have my child be friending anything that could potentially be used against him/her. I've seen decisions made too many times by administrators that suit their situation, sometimes unfairly because there is such ambiguity in the "rules".

The story goes that it was told to them by the principal during, as I understand it, a back to school-type assembly.

Do you really sign an agreement regarding technology use outside of school (highlighted above)? I hope it's like "guidelines" and not an actual agreement. Or do you have school technology that you take home (such as a school-owned laptop)? That I would understand. Just curious.

 

[cabanafrau]

The surprising part to me is that it's Middle School, most of whose students would be underage for Facebook's age requirement to hold an account.

To be open here, I've already been told by many, many DISer's what a terrible parenting job I'm doing by allowing my 12 year old middle schooler to have a Facebook account. No one has commented on a Middle School requesting their students to open one?

Nope, my kid wouldn't be friending the school fb page.

 

[Scurvy]

The surprising part to me is that it's Middle School, most of whose students would be underage for Facebook's age requirement to hold an account.

To be open here, I've already been told by many, many DISer's what a terrible parenting job I'm doing by allowing my 12 year old middle schooler to have a Facebook account. No one has commented on a Middle School requesting their students to open one?

Nope, my kid wouldn't be friending the school fb page.

The OP mentioned an 8th grader. Aren't most 8th graders 13 unless they've skipped a grade? I hope that the school would have more sense than to encourage students to violate the Facebook Terms of Service, so I would assume they mean they only want the students who are old enough to have an account friend the school. If the school is irresponsible enough that they are encouraging underage children to join a social networking site, a parent really ought to file a complaint with the school board.