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Facebook Photos Land Eden Prairie Kids in Trouble 626

slim-t writes "The Star Tribune is reporting that students have been disciplined for photos of them on Facebook. 'Eden Prairie High School administrators have reprimanded more than 100 students and suspended some from sports and other extracurricular activities after obtaining Facebook photos of students partying, several students said Tuesday.' Is the school right to do this? My opinion is that the students should know not to post pictures of yourself breaking the law." I'd just like to know what all those administrators are doing cruising Facebook pages looking at the students in their school.
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Facebook Photos Land Eden Prairie Kids in Trouble

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  • Hah. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Futile Rhetoric ( 1105323 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:36PM (#21975864)
    "I'd just like to know what all those administrators are doing cruising Facebook pages looking at the students in their school."

    Looking for delectable jailbait, of course.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:52PM (#21976098)
      Supposedly the pics were delivered on a CD (maybe a DVD) to school administrators. The person who delivered it is either unknown or not being identified. (disclosure/source: My sister-in-law attends EPHS. I'm anonymous for her sake.)
      • by vistic ( 556838 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @09:29PM (#21978218)
        Probably delivered by a kid who got picked on by the popular alcohol chugging kids.

        I was in the EP school system from Kindergarten until halfway through 9th Grade... and I recall it was pretty clique-ish and people were particularly nasty and cruel to other kids.

        Most people might say it's the same in every high school, but I went to 3 high schools my freshman year (EPHS inclusive). And the high school in Connecticut and especially the high school in Arizona were a LOT nicer in terms of students' attitudes and treatment of other students.

        Sounds like revenge!
    • Re:Hah. (Score:5, Funny)

      by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:23PM (#21976580) Journal
      > I'd just like to know what all those administrators are doing cruising Facebook pages looking at the students in their school.

      Masturbating, of course. The internet means you don't have to wait for the goddamn yearbook any more!
    • Re:Hah. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by John Courtland ( 585609 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @08:28PM (#21977506)
      I know you're joking, but I've seen it happen. I worked at a high school for a while and we monitored all traffic looking for keywords. Also, any AIM traffic was logged, and any traffic to/from myspace was logged. We caught a bunch of kids doing some really stupid shit because they updated their myspace pages from school. I believe some of them lost scholarships over it. Oops.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by causality ( 777677 )

        We caught a bunch of kids doing some really stupid shit because they updated their myspace pages from school. I believe some of them lost scholarships over it.

        So much for that idea of "the punishment should fit the crime". Hmm, what you are saying or portraying is disagreeable .. sooo, we're going to cause you real personal harm and financial loss because of it, because we want you to grow up respecting authority of course.
  • by Hognoxious ( 631665 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:37PM (#21975874) Homepage Journal
    Won't somebody think of the children?

    Er, wait ...
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:38PM (#21975882)
    Really, it seems kind of strange that school administrators would find these kinds of things without someone explicitly bringing it to their attention. Don't they have better things to do than sit around and look at pictures of the students? The argument could be made that this is pretty creepy.

    Also, if the students are breaking the law outside of school hours, isn't that a matter for the police and not the school?
    • by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:43PM (#21975970) Journal
      Also, if the students are breaking the law outside of school hours, isn't that a matter for the police and not the school?

      This is the crux of the matter. Yes, those kids are idiots for posting evidence of illegal behavior for all to see. But the administrators have no jurisdiction over what goes on outside of school. He should have reported these pictures to the police, if anything.
      • by mabhatter654 ( 561290 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @09:53PM (#21978446)
        but in one case, the party was last school year...before the kid "promised" not to drink, no harm done at all!!! there's no dates on this stuff, so the administrator is probably going to find himself sued if a proper lawyer gets a hold of this.

        As far as taking pictures of doing something illegal, who cares, like one girl in the article said, they're just PICTURES..they don't prove the kids were DRINKING and even if they did, unless you are caught COMMITTING the act, the police can do nothing (except maybe stake out your party spot for next time!) if I was an enterprising kid, I'd take a bunch of pictures of my friends with EMPTY cans...and call a lawyer!! again, the administrator is getting into trouble here.

        I understand the whole "teaching kids to be ethical" thing and "representing the school", but these are PUBLIC schools, no code of ethics applies to students required by law to go there except the LAW. Perhaps the principal could address the issue with PARENTS (who's job it is to raise kids!!!), but it's completely out of line to punish students for random events that happened sometime in the past... that reeks of corporate-fascism!!!
    • by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:01PM (#21976230) Homepage

      My guess would be some teacher caught a student goofing around on that FaceBook page, recognized what was going on in the pictures, and that's where this came from. I agree the administrator has better things to do than search FaceBook for this.

      The kids are morons (but what do you expect from a 15 year old with the chance at "fame"). The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club. The 1/2th rule about Fight Club is don't take pictures and post them on the 'net.

      Is this legal? I'd say... yes. Kids have no privacy. They aren't adults. They deserve to be punished if they broke the rules. Now I have two ideas at this point. If they violated a code of conduct that they signed (like for a sport), then they need to face the consequences. They chose to do it. If it's a private school, kick 'em out if you want if they violated the rules. If it's a public school and the kid isn't in any activities, you don't have any authority to punish them, since there isn't anything to bad them from.

      Either way, if the pictures clearly show them drinking, those should be turned over to the police/DA. If they want to do something, they will. If they don't, it's over. But there are crimes there (drinking underage, drinking and driving probably, supplying alcohol to a minor, probably others).

      But really, they need to learn their lesson. When you do something illegal/wrong... you don't document it and post that on the 'net for everyone to see. That's just plain stupid.

      • by HTH NE1 ( 675604 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:31PM (#21976706)

        Kids have no privacy.
        None whatsoever?

        Note to administration: warrantless-wiretap the children to get the dirt on their parents.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        But the school administrator is not a LEGALLY authorized authority for dealing with these "crimes". It didn't happen on school ground, or hell, even during the school year, these were pictures from last year, or over the summer!!! There's nothing the police could do, except maybe rattle a few parents to behave better, they have to catch kids ACTUALLY DRINKING or with BAC for it to be a punishable event, a picture doesn't cut it. The administrator is WRONG, dead WRONG. He is there to EDUCATE the kids, it
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jasonla ( 211640 )
      In many states, students (kids under 18), are the responsibility of the school between the hours of business. Technically, the teachers/admins are the parents between 8 am and 3 pm. So they can punish as they see fit, regardless of when said activity occured. Also, the school provides sports and other activities, and it's in its purview to remove them as well.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by c_forq ( 924234 )
      It has been a while since I have been in High School, but I am guessing the administration didn't purposfully and didn't want to get involved in this. My guess would be someone, an angry someone (either parent or student), reported this. If it is like most administrations I know, the administration would say "well, we don't really know about this facebook thing and have more important stuff to do", as schools really don't like to bring negative attention to themselves, especially regarding student behavio
  • Yeah (Score:2, Funny)

    by Knara ( 9377 )

    I'd just like to know what all those administrators are doing cruising Facebook pages looking at the students in their school.

    Sure makes you wonder, doesn't it.

    • by EMeta ( 860558 )
      Not Really. There tend to be other students who resent the ones who get invited to such parties who spend time cruising online. These are very easy, if stupid revenge.
      • This is more than likely what happened. A kid who was mad that they were not invited or wanted to get a specific group of people they don't like in trouble pointed this out to school admins.
  • Isn't it easy? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cthulu_mt ( 1124113 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:39PM (#21975908)
    I don;t use Facebook, but don't they have a feature to group people by what school they attend? An administrator would just have to sign up for his own school then just browse profiles while filling out detention slips.

    Maybe it will be a good lesson to these idiots not to document their wrong-doing.
  • Let them eat cake (Score:2, Interesting)

    by andytrevino ( 943397 )

    Reminds me of this NYT article [nytimes.com] on some George Washington University students who trapped their administration busting parties and had a great time at it as well!

    This would seem to aid one of my longtime complaints; namely, that many schools at all levels of education spend far too much money on administrators and not enough on teachers... If they have time to be nosing around students' lives on Facebook, they probably don't have enough real administrative work to do.

  • Rights not online (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Kohath ( 38547 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:40PM (#21975922)
    Time to repeal the drinking age.

    This isn't a "rights online" question. It's a natural consequence of the stupid prohibition laws we have. They need to be repealed.

    If the only way anyone found out about the drinking was looking at Facebook after the fact, then how was it harmful?
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ivan256 ( 17499 )
      Let me get this straight. Kids taking pictures of themselves demonstrating that they aren't mature enough to drink responsibly is evidence that the drinking age limits need to be repealed?

      I tend to agree that 21 is too old when 18 is old enough to vote, but this is a really poor example to hold up to argue that point.
      • by truthsearch ( 249536 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:05PM (#21976308) Homepage Journal
        Kids taking pictures of themselves demonstrating that they aren't mature enough to drink responsibly...

        How is that? According to the article one kid was just holding a drink. Another was standing behind a bar. The article makes no mention of any crazy antics. You're making that assumption because they're young and got in trouble.

        The problem here is the system, not the students.
      • Re:Rights not online (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Tony Hoyle ( 11698 ) <tmh@nodomain.org> on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @08:24PM (#21977454) Homepage
        21? What country is this? Iran?

        Surely you're not telling me the legal drinking age in the US is 21? Hell.. I the worst hangover of my life was the day of my 16th birthday when I could finally drink legally (everyone in this country drinks illegally from about 14). The second worst hangover was at the school party that year where they'd thoughtfully provided free drinks..

        You'll never learn to drink responsibly unless you've drunk irresponsibly a few times when you're younger. OTOH I was drinking wine with meals at 7 years old, so was kinda used to it by then.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by russotto ( 537200 )
          Yes, the legal drinking age is 21 in the USA, thanks to a law passed in 1984. But don't worry about kids not getting experience; the law is more honoured in the breach than the observance. Rich kids, if nothing else, go to Mexico during spring break of their senior year of high school to get all sorts of experience drinking irresponsibly. Less rich kids just get other people to buy beer for them.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Minwee ( 522556 )

      Did nobody even bother to read the article?

      Let me post a few interesting bits that should answer about half of the "insightful" questions raised in the comments today:

      "I'm personally pretty upset and wondering why someone would collect these photos and turn them in," O'Leary said. "A lot of kids' lives are going to be ruined as far as scholarships and sports are concerned." [...] "I was told each picture was equal to a two-game suspension"

      [...]

      "The Minnesota State High School League requires studen

  • by bigstrat2003 ( 1058574 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:41PM (#21975934)
    I think that the kids are pretty stupid to post photos of themselves doing illegal things on the Internet, but neither is it the administrators' business to be scouring Facebook for such things. Their job is to deal with things as they're brought to their attention, not be a surveillance force.
    • Students posting photos of themselves? Due to the way cameras usually work, the one who OWNS the pictures is rarely the one IN the pictures.

      Maybe these pictures were posted by the students themselves, but not posting pictures of yourself does nothing to protect you from this shit.

      The problem simply lies in the students underestimating the level of surveilance in our society. It isn't spy satellites or cameras on roofs, its just other people. If someone can see or hear you, they can record it without you eve
      • You're correct, the students were unlikely to post photos of themselves. However, I disagree that there's no one to blame. The administrators are solidly to blame for sitting looking through Facebook photos to check up on their students. This is unacceptable abuse of authority, and should not be tolerated.
  • Jurisdiction? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Bardez ( 915334 )
    I'd like to know how the fuck school officials are allowed to discipline students for activities not relating to school. That's the realm of police, is it not? You got together with friends to party? Nothing to do with school.

    What the hell, man? I've asked before and I ask again: what the hell gives schools such a wide bullshit jurisdiction?
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Not to defend the school but, from the article, in MN, student athletes sign a pledge saying they will not drink alcohol. The article is not clear about how the school obtained the pictures, it is possible they were given to the school and the school did not go out to find them. But, when you have evidence showing kids doing something they pledged not to do, you have to act.

      Similarly, if the kids had been busted by the police, the police would notify the schools and the kids would be suspended from games. T
    • by nagora ( 177841 )
      I'd like to know how the fuck school officials are allowed to discipline students for activities not relating to school.

      Students get bad rep; parents decide not to send little Jimmy to "that school with all the drunks"; school either has to put up with the children of parent who don't give a fuck about who their kids mix with or reduce intake, which means reduced budget.

      There: wasn't that complex really, was it?

      TWW

    • you are absolutely right, they should stick to telling kids to cut that hair! [dallasnews.com]
  • Yeah, right. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:44PM (#21975986)

    Danny O'Leary, a senior who plays lacrosse, said his dean displayed four Facebook photos of O'Leary holding drinks and told him he was in "a bit of trouble." One photo shows him holding a can of Coors beer, another a shot of rum, he said. In yet another, O'Leary is pictured holding his friend's 40-ounce container of beer.

    "I wasn't drinking that night," O'Leary said.


    First off, the kid is a liar.

    Second of all, if he's freely distributing evidence of himself breaking the law, he's lucky it's just his school that is punishing him.

    Third, he's lucky it's just him getting punished and not his parents.

    Kid breaks law, gets in trouble. The internet was mildly involved. News at 10:00. Bitching on Slashdot at 9:30.
    • But why should it be the school's job? It wasn't a big enough deal for the police that night apparently. The school has no right to punish students for non-school related activities.
      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Logger ( 9214 )
        Correction. The school has no obligation to punish students for non-school related activities.

        Most schools I know of have codes of conduct which prohibit such behavior, whether in a school function or not. At a minimum that code of conduct typically states something like "you shall obey the law at all times".

        So, obligation no, right yes.
      • But why should it be the school's job?

        Because now the character of the students is brought into question. The student is drinking underage, and was careless enough to post pictures of himself doing so. The school now has the responsibility of being certain that this student has never brought, and has no intention to bring or distribute alcohol on school grounds.

        It wasn't a big enough deal for the police that night apparently.

        I had a friend who was a cop who explained it to me as this: Police Officers a

      • by karnal ( 22275 )
        If the school's athletic department has a rule akin to "no smoking or drinking, or you're not playing" rule then there could be punishments (not being allowed to play.) I know there were always some pretty harsh punishments for smoking on school grounds when I went to school. While there will always be drinking and such going on in certain high school crowds, I'd say the onus is on the individual to not get their picture taken...
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          That is frightfully akin to a "guilty until proven innocent" method of thought, just like the administrators in this case. While they do have pictures, its also very clear that pictures can be changed, drinks may not have an alcohol in them, and a whole host of other circumstances that lead to the party involved being innocent. In fact, I would think that, while the evidence may be strong, it is not overwhelming, and you would be hard pressed to prove the guilt of anyone merely by the pictures in question
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      You are still ignoring the question that has been brought up again and again in these discussions. Did the administrator have the power to punish a student for an activity not sanctioned by, held in, or related to the school in any way? I think its pretty clear cut that, as long as the student was not drunk at the school, this is an incident where the administrator is clearly overstepping the bounds of their disciplinary powers. He does NOT have the power to punish a student for a crime outside his jurisd
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:48PM (#21976040)
    She scans her students myspace pages all the time. It's pretty incredible what kind of information they put up.

    She doesn't do it because she's out to get them, though. If she learned that a student was smoking weed at a weekend party, it's not like she'd call the cops on them. I think she does it just to get a better sense of who her students are as individuals, and can then better tailor her instructions to each individual.

    Let's say Katie is really emotional, and loves to answer questions in class. However, Katie has just gone through a rough breakup with her longtime boyfriend (we learn over myspace)... My wife would be a bit more understanding about why Katie is acting so depressed.

    Or, she may learn that a student routinely smokes pot in the bathroom every morning before class. She might pay extra attention to that student, and if she smells pot on the kid while he's in class, she can certainly get the administration involved.

    Or kids might comment about a stolen test. Or how they hacked into the computers and changed grades. It's crazy what they'll write about.

    The point is, of course, don't put up information that you don't want your boss, teacher/SO/parents/whoever to read.

    Posting anonymously for hopefully obvious reasons. :)
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by AlexBirch ( 1137019 )
      Is your wife "Mrs. Coward?" I thought she taught one of my classes.
    • by karnal ( 22275 )
      I'll bet your wife has a link to slashdot to tailor to you too :)

      Actually, I think what your wife does is pretty amazing though. Not many people would take their responsibility to the kids that far.
  • Its simple, you get caught drinking in any means then you deserve the punishment.
    Now if they cant prove that there is alcohol in your drink, then more power to you, but you got off easy this time.
    These kids are in high school, wait till they get to college and some of them join the athletic programs. They will spend several hours in NCAA compliance meetings, signing papers, and reviewing every single detail about drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and felony's. Trust me, I got busted for alcohol and they didn'
  • Just a thought... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by daemonhunter ( 968210 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:54PM (#21976142)
    Knowing several teachers, I have to ask this: is it at all (naively) possible that this admin is doing what he thought best? It seems to me like he's trying to straighten out these kids' lives (at least by his interpretation of life, mind you.)

    It's surprising, I know, but some teachers actually care about their students. Not just whether they make the school look good at scholastic meets and football games, not just whether they pass all their (irrelevant) standardized tests. Some teachers care whether or not Joe Quarterback makes it home from prom nite. They actually care whether Suzie Cheerleader makes it home from prom nite unfertilized.

    Just a thought. I didn't have the greatest high school experiences myself, but even I know not all school officials are malicious animals prowling 'That Facebook Thing' for whom they may devour.

    There is, in fact, some middle ground left to on which to stand.
    • I see alot of comments of people saying, "What right do they have to do this, shouldn't it be the police?."

      Yes and No, if the police caught them in the act then it can be put in the hands of the police, otherwise these kids are lucky they didn't get caught by the police and the school is taking disciplinary action. Remember, these kids signed papers that said they would not drink and thats in and out of school activities and hours. Some schools even have a 24 hour rule, if you get caught and within 24 ho
  • Bizarre (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BlueParrot ( 965239 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:18PM (#21976490)
    Being Swedish I find your alcohol policy absolutely bizarre. Schools policing students about what they do in their spare time? If a teacher did that over here they would probably get into legal difficulties as a result of it... Heck, my physics department has a student run pub in the basement and one of my lecturers even gave the students some time to advertise it. Despite of this ( or maybe because of ) we have a lower rate of alcohol induced diseases and a lower alcohol related crime rate.

    I'm guessing this is the consequence of some "traditional" political opinions, much like Sweden insisting on having a state monopoly on alcohol, despite it being quite clearly demonstrated that it does nothing to prevent minors from obtaining it ( which is pretty much the argument in favor ).
    • Re:Bizarre (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:46PM (#21976936) Homepage
      Almost every single USA law is based on Puritan ideals that started a long time ago. WE firmly believe that restricting people and controlling them is for their own good. Restrict alcohol, hell we even banned it for a few years for incredibly stupid reasons. We are doing the same now for drugs and sex and anything else deemed to be "unholy" or "bad" based on old Puritan ideals from over 300 years ago.

      It's the root of our obesity, and almost every other problem that the rest of the world seems to not have.

      Problem is , today you are called a nut for questioning the puritanical ideals.

      The other problem is the whole point of the article shines light on a bigger problem.. Our children are incredibly stupid. They do things they know are wrong and will get them in trouble if their parents or officials find out about it, and then they publish it with incredible detail in a public forum and then SIGN IT!

      The current crop of children here are incredibly stupid.... I blame the use of Corn syrup.
  • by Children.of.the.Kron ( 1175875 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:25PM (#21976608)
    Personally, at my school, they have a policy that if you violate a policy outside of school grounds within sight of a school official, or a school official is latter reported of the policy you broke, you will be reprimanded as if you were on school premise. People don't seem to remember that youth are still citizens, and are granted all the rights of the constitution. Schools extend and deploy their power in scary ways, forever under the umbrella "For the Children."
  • by greg1104 ( 461138 ) <gsmith@gregsmith.com> on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:42PM (#21976880) Homepage
    You say you're a nerd who is picked on by the popular jocks. Do I have a plan for you!

    1) Take a buddy nerd and sneak into a party where your victim will be (since you're a nerd you obviously weren't invited)
    2) Hand the jock a beer, have your friend snap a picture during that second he's holding it (but before you're being pounded with it)
    3) Post picture to Facebook using a fake account
    4) Wait for jock to be suspended

    I'm still trying to figure out how to fit "Profit!" into there as well. Maybe blackmail?

    All these "well you shouldn't have posted the picture" posts are forgetting the very common case where someone snaps pictures of a bunch of people and posts them all onto Facebook. It's amazing how fast the camera phones can go off if you do something stupid even for a second at a party.
  • by QuoteMstr ( 55051 ) <dan.colascione@gmail.com> on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @07:58PM (#21977124)
    Our thinking seems to be devolved from "what kind of society do we want to live in?" to "what's in it for me, right now?" If doing X makes you "safer" or "happier" right now, it doesn't matter what the consequences are. It's just that we don't seem to be able to reason past the next couple weeks anymore! The lack of outrage over over-prescribed medication, random drug testing, schools spying on students, the sex offender registry, and warrantless wiretaps points to a huge "it doesn't affect me right now, so I don't give a shit" attitude. It's the moral reasoning of a two year old.
  • Not their job (Score:3, Insightful)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @08:04PM (#21977196) Homepage Journal
    Its not the schools job or duty to police after-hours activities.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @08:04PM (#21977202)
    I can attest that student rights are frequently struck down in the name of In Loco Parentis. IMO, if it doesn't happen at school or occur while traveling to/from thereof, the school should not have the right to discipline those actions. Having spent K-12 in Fairfax County Public Schools (VA), I endured the most strict, archaic and otherwise bass-ackward rules outside of private schools. Examples:
    • A fellow fourth grade student was caught possessing a beeper at school. FCPS believed the only reason anyone would possess a beeper would be to facilitate selling drugs. The student was expelled. His mother had given him the beeper the previous day so he would know when she was ready to pick him up from soccer practice. FCPS kept the ban on cell phones and beepers until 9/11, but not before threatening to suspend students who were trying to contact parents who worked in the Pentagon that day.
    • A girl at my middle school was caught with a can of pepper spray. Her parents had given her the mace because she lived less than one mile from the school (FCPS does not provide transportation to students less than 1 mi from school) and had to walk through a rough neighborhood each day. She was suspended.
    • My school once let out early and had a student fair on the soccer field. Attendance on the field was not mandatory, but students could not leave school grounds without a note from a parent. The administration was so concerned with our attendance that every student who left early had their car fully searched to make sure they weren't taking home other students.
    Unfortunately, FCPS holds all bargaining chips before students even enroll. They force each student sign a "Student Responsibilities and Rights" document essentially stating you understand FCPS has the right to deal with you any way they please should you screw up. If you don't sign it, they won't give you a locker, a parking spot, nor allow you to participate in after school activities.

    If school administrators stumble upon pictures of a student doing something illegal, but not while at school, they should report it to the police, and the buck stops there. If a student's "extra-cirricular" activities don't interfere with school, then schools shouldn't interfere with them.
  • My Two Cents (Score:5, Interesting)

    by krunk7 ( 748055 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @08:06PM (#21977232)

    When I was a teenager, I had a friend who saw the school principal at the grocery store. After making eye contact, he gave him the middle finger. The principal was understandably irate and the following Monday suspended him.

    When his parents found out, they called the principal and made it abundantly clear that he was far, far outside his bounds and pushed until the school rescinded the suspension. Don't think he didn't suffer consequences, they were just delivered by his parents whose duty it is to do so outside of school.

    The duty of school officials is to discipline and teach students within the school environment. From 8-3 or on school grounds, that's it. Period. The minute the child leaves school grounds, he's under the purview of the law and his guardians. The second school officials leave the school grounds, they're just average folks. No legitimate power over and above any other schmo.

  • by NickCatal ( 865805 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @08:38PM (#21977632)
    A lot (if not most) high schools have conduct codes that all student athletes/extra curricular participants must sign that states they will not do illegal activities. This is basically proof that they went back on that code and they are being punished for it.
  • Schools... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Derek Loev ( 1050412 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @09:03PM (#21977924)
    I've lost any faith in the schools.
    In my sophomore year of high school I was suspended for telling somebody how to open the command prompt. Now, remember, that goes on my permanent record. Not only was I banned from using the computer (which is pretty tough when I'm in C++, Cisco, and Webmaster classes) but it also ruined my chances of getting into certain schools.
    I may sound bitter, and what I'm talking about may be considered entirely unrelated but the point I'm trying to get across is that schools look for every opportunity they can to catch kids doing something "bad". Shouldn't they be trying to catch kids doing something good?
    The security administrator at my school would ride around the parking lot in a golf cart and check to see if student's cars were unlocked. If they were, he had no problem in allowing himself to search their car. I just could never understand how people stood for this.
    These students being suspended for Facebook photos (not smart of them, but the reaction is over-the-top) could very well affect their future. IMO, it's time for people (high school students in this case) to start standing up.
  • I'm from EP (Score:5, Informative)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @09:51PM (#21978424) Journal
    I'm from Eden Prairie.
    "I'd just like to know what all those administrators are doing cruising Facebook pages looking at the students in their school."
    Short answer: They weren't.

    An anonymous person stopped by the high school and dropped off a CD containing the images saved off numerous Facebook sites.

    Links as well, I believe, but am not sure. Of course speculation is that it was some kid who wasn't invited; I rather speculate it was a parent who was sick of the hypocrisy of the rules never being enforced, and dropped it off to confront the administration and FORCE them to act.

    And for the Europeans who feel our 'policies on alcohol are bizarre': let's remember - to participate in student athletics in Minnesota, EVERY student must sign a pledge to entirely abstain from alcohol or tobacco as a student athlete, and (as I recall, it was 20 years ago I was in EPHS) even to avoid being PRESENT at such activities. Say what you want about the motivation behind the rule, the simple fact is that every one of them signed such a promise and are now blatantly proved to be breaking it. Busted.

    My cynical view is that I would like to know WHEN this CD was dropped off. EP is a perennial powerhouse dominant in the local football league...coincidentally football season *just* ended 6 weeks ago. So no real penalties nor damage to the football team.
    • Re:I'm from EP (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DeVilla ( 4563 ) on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @10:52PM (#21979044)

      And for the Europeans who feel our 'policies on alcohol are bizarre': let's remember - to participate in student athletics in Minnesota, EVERY student must sign a pledge to entirely abstain from alcohol or tobacco as a student athlete, and (as I recall, it was 20 years ago I was in EPHS) even to avoid being PRESENT at such activities.
      Excuse me? I'm a parent of elementary school kids in MN. I'm not saying these kids in Eden Prairie weren't idiots, and if my kids are ever at a one of these parties I'll string them up myself. All the same, this agreement goes too far. I will be in the office of the high school chewing out the administration if they ever try to make my kids sign something like this or exclude them from sports that my taxes pay for over this.

      My wife and I don't drink or smoke and never really have aside from the occasional toast at a wedding or a new year sparty. Still this is too draconian. What about communion at church? They can't even be present? They can see their uncle when he has a lit cigarette? I couldn't allow them to toast at new years?

      Each new years my folks use to let me and my brothers have a sip of wine and made us eat sour kraut for luck. It was a tradition. (I haven't eaten kraut since. My luck has been fine.) My wife is Italian enough that we eat spaghetti with the secret family meatball recipe at Christmas. Her family makes all sort of other Italian dishes and also finds a glass of wine to be obligatory. The school would tell me my kids can't go to the Christmas dinner at Great Grandma's? That would be another impact that the school has no right to impose.

      Perhaps I need to start having words with the school now, before my kids reach high school. And if they confirm this and are not flexible to my wishes for my children, then my lawyer will have to start having words with someone.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by syousef ( 465911 )
      arre': let's remember - to participate in student athletics in Minnesota, EVERY student must sign a pledge to entirely abstain from alcohol or tobacco as a student athlete, and (as I recall, it was 20 years ago I was in EPHS) even to avoid being PRESENT at such activities. Say what you want about the motivation behind the rule, the simple fact is that every one of them signed such a promise and are now blatantly proved to be breaking it. Busted.

      the simple fact is that every one of them was co-erced into sig
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by xaxa ( 988988 )

      And for the Europeans who feel our 'policies on alcohol are bizarre': let's remember - to participate in student athletics in Minnesota, EVERY student must sign a pledge to entirely abstain from alcohol or tobacco as a student athlete
      That's exactly what we find bizarre.

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