Topic : 01/15 Internet Mistakes

The substitute teacher wanted to know why his private interests and pursuits affect his job?

They don't. 

Video recording and then posting them on Myspace or Facebook makes them public!  He turned his "private" pursuits "public" and promoting and he can no longer call them "private".

A little piece of advice ladies: make it private. Not everyone is worthy of seeing your drunken conquests online. Particularly not the president of your University, the principal of your school, your mom and dad, the neighborhood sex offender, your potential employer. They all like the internet too. Remember those 'Hi, Sara' commercials? They are too accurate. Each of these websites has a privacy setting. Use it.

You asked: Who is being harmed? 

College Students

There are cases where students have been expelled from their college residence hall or university after school administrators found pictures of students to engaging in activities that were against university policies or the law.  Photos can be used as evidence in discipline hearing.  I am a university administrator and my school has asked us not to look on Facebook for infractions.  But if a photo has been brought to an administrator’s attention, the administrator has an ethical and legal duty to act.  If someone has provided an administrator a photo they found on a website of a student engaged in risky behavior—like binge drinking, the administrator is advised to act upon the information by some form of intervention.   If not, the school may be sued for negligence if the student is eventually injured by continuing the behavior.  If a student is expelled, no refund is given for the time they were in enrolled in the school. Some universities cost as high as $40,000 a year and many students accummulate a hefty student loan debt just to attend college.

If a student has an underage drinking violation while in college it can stay on his academic record.  Underage drinking convictions or violations can bar a student from entering law or med school and can prevent them from studying abroad.  

Potential College Students

I do not know if admission officers look at Facebook or MySpace for more information about potential students.  Based on Mary’s presentation on the show, I would have doubts that a college admission officer would view Mary a potential prospect for their future Freshman class.  She may be a bright student with a high GPA and SAT score.  She have excellent references.  If a school knows that a student is engaging in binge underage drinking in high school, then that student becomes a liability to the campus community.  Campus administrators, police, and residence hall advisors are constantly battling the binge drinking culture on campus.  Colleges can manage the problem by refusing to admit students who already have a troubled history with alcohol.  Admissions officers may or may not look at these websites, but I would advise high school students not to risk their college careers for the thrill of posting a photo on the internet. 

Colleges and Universities

At one university athletes posted pictures of the team on Facebook engaged in hazing activities. The incident made national news and created a public relations nightmare for the school.  When the school’s reputation is damaged, alumni donations and endowments to the school decline.  With less money, funds are not available for scholarships, academic programs and research.  The publicity surrounding the scandal impacted the team and individual players. Player who were not involved in the hazing were personally demorallized and depressed.  This is a prime example how posting personal photo can have major consequences.

Read this article.

http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2007/01/29/News/Facebook.Big.Brother.Administrators.Coaches.Keep.Tabs.On.Students.Online.Activit-2682532.shtml

You asked: WHO CARES?

I care as a university administrator who wants to insure all my students have a chance to develop themselves to their highest potential as human beings.  I care because I want nothing to hinder their path towards their chosen graduate program, internship, or career.  I care because want to teach them about the consequences of their actions so they do not have to learn from their tragic mistakes.  

If parents are concerned about their child’s future and want them to thrive in college or in their job positions, they would care too.  Most involved parents teach their children that the behavior they present on the internet is open for public display with an audience of millions.   Young people need to know that interacting on the web requires a sense of personal and communal responsibilities. If we can teach that lesson now, we can provide them a life where they are judged by their good deeds and hard work, instead of one act of stupidity.

This story just aired in Australia (13.03.08) and I was shocked at the outrage people had over petty drunken photos. In no way do I try and sound disrespectful or rude, I am simply stating my own person opinion on the topic. It may just be the fact I live in Australia where getting drunk is just a given for most of the country despite how old you are or how young (to a certain extent... obviously). I have been getting drunk at supervised parties since I was sixteen in safe situations that are supervised and moderated. I feel that if teenagers (legal age here is 18) drink (which most of us are going to do) then they may as well drink in a safe and supervised place. Taking photos of this should not be degrading at all, if anything it will discourage the drinker to get that heavily intoxicated in the future. I have a myspace and I used to have a facebook and in both I have had pictures of me drunk with my mates because that is a part of my life. I don't want to sacrifice putting up photos I like that remind me of good times (birthdays, weddings etc.) simply because I could get 'lurked' on myspace by future employers. -lurk; semi, internet stalking. If my future boss was to see me drunk on myspace I would be happy because at least I would know that s/he is viewing one aspect of my life, be that my fun/party side or be that the side of me that likes to hang out with friends, socialise. At least they know I'm not some anti-social psychopath. I guess what this debate may come down to is that within the Australian culture it is more acceptable to get drunk younger and more publically than within the US. Like I said before, it is not my intention to offend or look down upon the opinions and culture of others, so if it appears as if I am doing that I do apologise. And finally if I may, I want to talk about 'Ian' the substitute teacher with a myspace page. Like Dr. Phil said, there is nothing wrong with you expressing yourself via music, and there is nothing wrong with the conservative values of the particular school that fired you, it's just that both cannot work together. Ian, if you ever read this I would just like you to know that I think you should NEVER stop doing what you like to do, be that teaching and uploading your own personal music to a web page. America is a free country where people should be encouraged to achieve their goals and life ambitions! I say good luck to you and your music and teaching career. Students in middle school are a lot smarter than parents want to believe- I can, without a doubt in my mind tell you that each and every one of those kids who looked at Ian's myspace had heard the "F" word before. That is why I am shocked to hear he was fired for that. How are kids meant to grow up and be strong enough to face the world's prejudice and discrimination if they are taught that chasing your dreams and doing what you like to do is wrong, and they in fact might get punished for it. I will end on this; Stand up for yourself, live your life the way you want to live it and be happy with everything you achieve despite how small or great.

Paul. 18. Australia 

I watched Dr Phil, surprised to see that this episode addressed concerns regarding FaceBook and MySpace which is what I am currently studying this semester. So, in posting my thoughts i am linking study with a current and topical issue.

After watching the three sinarios on Mary, Ian and The mayor of Arlington, Oregon only one word really came to mind COMMON SENSE!

I listened to both views of the critics, creators (forums) and culprits of the stories and tended to agree and diasagree with all of them on some level.

The undeniable fact that we must accept is that, like or not, we live in an 'information world.'  With this has to come acceptance, flexibility, change, security and maturity. So, before CHOOSING to place yourself deeper into the cyberworld by setting up a FaceBook or MySpace page think firstly about your purpose for getting involved as well as understanding your security options and acknowledging that you are offering potentially EVERYONE information on your personal, social, creative or professional self.

I'll offer my opinion on Senerio 1 only : 17 year old, Mary.

Mary is young and binge drinking could be considered 'normal' behaviour for someone her age however it has also become a social concern, certainly in Australia, which is currently considering increasing the drinking age from 18 to 21 years, matching our American counterparts.  At Mary's age, drinking is a popular social bond, it's cool, daring, fun and NEW to them. Also, new to them is FaceBook or MySpace, which is also another avenue for social bonding, so logically they link the two, posting their social behaviour on the web.  As i mentioned before about what should be understood about the 'information world' is the need for MATURITY. This is what Mary hasn't yet understood or developed.... BUT,  hopefully since the DR Phil show she may think twice about her involvement with the forum " 30 reasons why a girl should call it a night."  Whether or not this behaviour is popular, 'normal'  and amusing to her, she needs to use COMMON SENSE and not post drunken photos on your site which are concerning. On the contrary to this statement, both  FLEXIBILTY AND ACCEPTANCE needs to be understood when some photos are posted. It should be acceptable to include social photos on your site using your DECRETION. Anyway, who wants an album with only  family portraits and family holidays. LIke many of us, Mary need to identify which photos are cyber safe friendly and which ones are not. I don't believe there is too much of a fine line involved, it should be relatively obvious to most. Lets look at the 3 senario's using COMMONSENSE.

Senario 1:  Includes you with one or two beers in one or both hands smiling and looking a little happy.

Not so cool, would be flashing yourself while holding one or two beer and looking happy. (if this is possible)

Senario 2: a group of friends looking a little drunk singing karoke together

Not so cool, would be a photo of your friends singing karoke while you are pashing the bar man.

Senario 3: Your friend is hugging you while you are about to have a shot of Tequila

Not so cool, Your friend is hugging the toilet bowl while you holding her hair back.

Pretty logical right!? Use your COMMON SENSE, YES we are all human and posting photos of our social life deserves to be kept separate from our professional life HOWEVER,  the potenial for them to interlink at at some point, in our favour or against is something to keep in mind before POSTING YOUR FUTURE.

Nataliex