Catholic school bans pupils from MySpace

[Digitonomy]

If a school wishes to be so private and assert its “privateness” devoid of outside influence or control then perhaps the State should accommodate and refuse to acknowledge the validity of its academic credits and grades.

So long as the school fulfills the educational requirements of the state, and does not endanger kids, or violate other laws (e.g. discharging radioactive waste during physics lab), the state has no additional authority over the school.

Nor should it. The attendance of a child at the school is a private contractual agreement. If the school is heavy-handed enough, parents may complain and work to change the policy. Or they may sever the contract and send their kids to another school.

In this particular case, I agree the policy is overkill. But if they wanted to, they could go further: they could say no computers at home, or even no electricity. Enforcement could be tricky - I imagine parents smuggling car batteries into the basement late at night - but if the family is not willing to follow the rules and values of the school as set by the administration, they can be expelled.

 

[February]

And obviously you don’t care about the rights of the 7th and 8th graders that can have one legally…

the vast majority of 7th graders are 12 and turn 13 during that year; 8th graders are 13 and turn 14. most turn 14 during the latter half of the school year, and some not even till summertime or later.

so no, not really. if it’s THAT important for them to have a myspace, they can stick it out till the end of the year. most 8th graders graduate in may. it’s really not that long. it would be a different situation if this was a high school, where most if not all students could technically have one.

“But from any school’s perspective, the problem with myspace and other sites like it is that so much of what gets said by the kids on the internet in their own homes comes to school the next day and can cause real problems.”

EXACTLY!

“School have filters; I can’t even get on this site from work.”

Me neither.

 

[childofmary1143]

the vast majority of 7th graders are 12 and turn 13 during that year; 8th graders are 13 and turn 14. most turn 14 during the latter half of the school year, and some not even till summertime or later.

so no, not really. if it’s THAT important for them to have a myspace, they can stick it out till the end of the year. most 8th graders graduate in may. it’s really not that long. it would be a different situation if this was a high school, where most if not all students could technically have one.

“But from any school’s perspective, the problem with myspace and other sites like it is that so much of what gets said by the kids on the internet in their own homes comes to school the next day and can cause real problems.”

EXACTLY!

“School have filters; I can’t even get on this site from work.”

Me neither.

Like I said earlier, I realize that the amount of students that would be affected by this is small but the issue here is one of principal not numbers.

You are speculating when you say that “But from any school’s perspective…” but banning myspace won’t stop students from badmouthing teachers. What would be next, banning them from using the phone?

 

[Tom317]

Yes but I remember a Judge saying “In a Civilized society no one is above the law” and that includes Private Institutions. However that isn’t always enforced by the Courts.

And no person is forced to go to private school, there is complee freedom of choice.

 

[childofmary1143]

And no person is forced to go to private school, there is complee freedom of choice.

Choice is not absolute in the sense that the school can do WHATEVER it wants OUTSIDE of its boundaries.

 

[PapaSquash]

This GIVES parents a choice, It doesn’t take away choice. Now they have the option of sending their kids to a place that is free of something they don’t want. Or, if they think that placing their children in an environment that carries the influence of MySpace is somehow better, they can can send thier kids to a different private school, or a public school or school at home.

If enrollment drops becasue parents don’t want that interference, then the market has spoken.

If I could find a school that went a step further and banned broadcast TV, I’d be glad to have the option.

I also understand that this a far more radical step than banning use of a web site that is, by it’s own policies, inappropriate for the vast majority of K-8 students. I’m not likley to find this “no TV” school, so I choose from among the options available. No TV is possibly an inappropriate policy for a parish school, where members of the parish can expect less idiosyncratic policies, so their children can attend the school associated with their Parish community.

We home school (Not becasue of TV,) and we’ll probably go back to our parish school eventually. (Now that they have decided not to implement the objectionable “abuse prevention” policy they were considering.)

 

[childofmary1143]

This GIVES parents a choice, It doesn’t take away choice. Now they have the option of sending their kids to a place that is free of something they don’t want. Or, if they think that placing their children in an environment that carries the influence of MySpace is somehow better, they can can send thier kids to a different private school, or a public school or school at home.

If enrollment drops becasue parents don’t want that interference, then the market has spoken.

If I could find a school that went a step further and banned broadcast TV, I’d be glad to have the option.

I also understand that this a far more radical step than banning use of a web site that is, by it’s own policies, inappropriate for the vast majority of K-8 students. I’m not likley to find this “no TV” school, so I choose from among the options available. No TV is possibly an inappropriate policy for a parish school, where members of the parish can expect less idiosyncratic policies, so their children can attend the school associated with their Parish community.

We home school (Not becasue of TV,) and we’ll probably go back to our parish school eventually. (Now that they have decided not to implement the objectionable “abuse prevention” policy they were considering.)

I seriously doubt that Parents choose to have the school take away their GOD GIVEN MORAL AUTHORITY to decide what goes on in THEIR OWN HOME

What this school is doing is unCatholic.

 

[dwc]

Now they have the option of sending their kids to a place that is free of something they don’t want.

Uh, where would that be? At a dormitory set up by the school? Do you get the point of contention here? No one is complaining that MySpace is banned from the school premises – I think everyone agrees on that. The point is that the school is telling the parents they can’t allow MySpace is their home.

This thread is pretty interesting. I always thought of this as a forum populated by more conservative than average people. For example, my home schooling friends fight tooth and nail to prevent the state from even giving acheivement tests to their home schooled children, argiung the state has no business in their homes. It’s eye opening to see how many people here are willing to sit back and delegate parental responsibility to a school administrator. I generally think that the belief that an institution is in a better position to make decisions for children than are parents is more common in liberals than conservatives. Yet, the majority have no problem with this.

 

[PapaSquash]

Uh, where would that be? At a dormitory set up by the school? Do you get the point of contention here? No one is complaining that MySpace is banned from the school premises – I think everyone agrees on that. The point is that the school is telling the parents they can’t allow MySpace is their home.

This thread is pretty interesting. I always thought of this as a forum populated by more conservative than average people. For example, my home schooling friends fight tooth and nail to prevent the state from even giving acheivement tests to their home schooled children, argiung the state has no business in their homes. It’s eye opening to see how many people here are willing to sit back and delegate parental responsibility to a school administrator. I generally think that the belief that an institution is in a better position to make decisions for children than are parents is more common in liberals than conservatives. Yet, the majority have no problem with this.

The school can’t be coercive if the parent is free to walk away. The parents who choose to participate ARE the school. No different from a neighborhood association tht decides what color you can paint your fence. I don’t like 'em, so I don’t live in one.

If these parents want an environment that is as free of popularity rivalries, petty hazing and gossip as is reasonably possible, they can choose to exclude persons who willing wallow in, and thus are carriers of, this secular garbage.

If they school misjudged the market niche and there are mass defections, they will either change or fold. It is very dangerous to say that a voluntary association cannot make this rule.

 

[childofmary1143]

The school can’t be coercive if the parent is free to walk away. The parents who choose to participate ARE the school. No different from a neighborhood association tht decides what color you can paint your fence. I don’t like 'em, so I don’t live in one.

Coerciveness is defined by the actions of the coercer not by the freedom of the person or persons being coerced.

If these parents want an environment that is as free of popularity rivalries, petty hazing and gossip as is reasonably possible, they can choose to exclude persons who willing wallow in, and thus are carriers of, this secular garbage.

The Parents most certainly are NOT the school as it wasn’t them that determined what goes in the home

If the school thinks that by banning Myspace from the home is one step towards that they are incredibly naive. All those things existed LONG before Myspace was even thought of.

If they school misjudged the market niche and there are mass defections, they will either change or fold. It is very dangerous to say that a voluntary association cannot make this rule.

Please reread what I and others who support me in this have said. We never had a problem with banning myspace in school property, but only in the home. A voluntary association has no business dictating parents what they can or can’t do.

 

[PapaSquash]

I have read what you said and I understand what you object to.

No offense, but I just don’t agree with you.

I feel that If a private school somewhere wants to have a requirement that it’s pupils cannot participate in, for example, competitive sports at any time while they are a student, that is no business of mine.