At this point, we’ve all seen random kids fist-fighting on YouTube, and sometimes it’s pretty awful… like the case of a group of girls ganging up and beating down a classmate that was in the news last year. But mostly, it’s just a couple kids throwing down, the same way they did it when I was in school. Stupid? Sure. But…
It looks like California (and likely other states) are reacting to the situation like fighting is something invented by GenY, and they’re in a panic to Fix Things.
Enforcement is often complaint driven. School districts do not have the staffing to constantly monitor social networking sites for perceived threats. Atascadero Unified School District dedicates part-time staff hours to reviewing such sites, but the hours are limited by other campus needs.
School districts’ authority over such cases is becoming increasingly more defined by the California School Boards Association and related case law — making it easier to determine how to proceed.
Recent case law expands traditional California education code to give districts authority beyond traditional school hours, which includes events that can be tied to campus or perceived as a threat to a student or staff member.
via Teen FightTube: Local students are posting video of school scuffles online – Local – San Luis Obispo.
So basically, anything a kid does, anywhere on the planet, that has even the most tenuous connection to his school or a classmate, can be considered an offense punishable by the school district. Wow. This is one of those times when I’m no longer worried about the slippery slope, ’cause we’re already way down at the bottom of the hill and heading straight for an outcropping of pointy rocks.
I was already growing concerned about this issue a few years ago, when I heard about one of who-knows-how-many kids who have been punished by their schools for stuff they’ve posted on MySpace. But the fact that the idea seems to be getting a firm, legal toe-hold is seriously worrying.
At this point, I’m ready to give up my long-maintained opposition to school vouchers. Just privatize the whole damned school system, as far as I’m concerned. Whatever it takes to disrupt this cycle of parental abstention and governmental restriction of free expression.