Nanny rules in action

[Tiger in Spain 0]

I'm not the biggest fan of Myspace, but this is just wrong. They (school administration) can not dictate what goes on in a student's home.

School's Policy Prohibits Use Of MySpace Site

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- One Bloomfield Hills school is enforcing a new policy that will end the use of a popular Web site on the premises.

St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School students were informed recently that under a new school policy, Think First, Stay Safe, the use of MySpace.com will be prohibited at school and at home.

The policy states that students enrolled in the school can't have a MySpace.com account or any similar type of personal site, according to a news release.

"The Internet can be wonderful for educational material, but it also can be unsafe," principal Sr. Margaret Van Velzen said.

At the beginning of each school year, students and parents will be required to sign an Internet policy.

School officials felt it necessary to apply the new policy after recent cases of adults, some in authoritative positions, posed as minors to converse or meet with young boys and girls.

Van Velzen said the decision was made with full support from the school's parents' organization.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent have been very supportive, and I've received many e-mails thanking me," Van Velzen said. "Our parent community is very supportive."

St. Hugo parent Kate Lynch said it's a great start.

"I think we've got a long way to go because it's a very difficult situation to grasp in its entirety," Lynch said. "There's so many things going on on the Internet and there's so much vulnerability for children."

Another St. Hugo parent, Liza Stanczak, said all schools should implement the policy.

"I think this is just the beginning of schools taking a stand against this kind of thing," Stanczak said. "I think this is going to have to happen because things are getting out of hand."

Those students who have existing MySpace.com accounts must delete them if they wish to continue going to school there. Students who do not delete their accounts cannot attend the school, Van Velzen said.

The school is hosting a meeting to launch the new policy, Think First, Stay Safe. It will be at 7 p.m. on March 27 in the school Parish Hall.

Link

[japantiger 4,051]

Is this a private or public school doing this? Can't tell from the article.

Love the dog pissing on Hillary

[quietfan 233]

Is this a private or public school doing this? Can't tell from the article.

Good point. It does say "St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School", which would be private I think. Private schools can certainly establish more exclusive admission standards than public, but I still think this is one more case of expecting the schools to act as surrogate parents rather than focusing on their primary job of education.

Also seems like another case of sacrificing freedom to fear. I'm not a fan of MySpace (or any blind posting of personal data on the Internet), but it's not all evil. I think it's a better idea to teach children how to deal with the world rather than trying to shield them from it.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

I'm pretty sure it's private. Still, regulating what goes on in the home is kind of overstepping their bounds in my opinion. If they don't want the students doing it at school, fine with me. I'll support it 150%. They have no jurisdiction in my home though.

IRT the dog, hopefully the voters do the same to her next year!

[jw 4 au 526]

I'm pretty sure it's private. Still, regulating what goes on in the home is kind of overstepping their bounds in my opinion. If they don't want the students doing it at school, fine with me. I'll support it 150%. They have no jurisdiction in my home though.

IRT the dog, hopefully the voters do the same to her next year!

What about homework? Just kidding. I agree that they have no right, but their intent is a good one I am sure of that. The predators out there on the internet is getting to an extreme level.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Well, if protection is the intent, is the school going to provide round the clock security at each home where one of its students reside? There is a greater chance of that kid being harmed by a burgular than being picked up by a myspace predator. How about the other internet chat rooms? Are they going to ban those, too?

[jw 4 au 526]

Not arguing, I actually agree with you. I have four kids under the age of 4 and watching all this stuff on TV (To Catch a Predator, Law and Order, the local news, etc.) really makes you wonder about our society and how it is vastly different from when we were kids. A better alternative would be parenting classes, because that is the real problem with kids being able to do almost anything they want without supervision. I know I (and it sounds like you too) will be involved enough to minimize the chances of these type of things happening to my kids. But he old analogy goes, "you have to pass a test to get a drivers liscense, but anyone can have kids."

[CCTAU 3,346]

I wonder how enforceable this is. If a student still has an account at home, can the school legally throw them out. I think the smarter thing to do would be require the parents to take a course on the internet and how to secure their child's computer. How to investigate the computer as to what is happening. This would eliminate 98% of the problems. Every time you hear of a case like this, the parents first words are, "I had no idea....".

Kinda like the cutoff end of a shotgun barrel laying around in the room of one of the Columbine killers. Gotta get in your kid's life. They want privacy, get a job and move out at 18. Even when my 19 year old visits, he is not allowed to be in his room with his girlfriend without the door open. And he has spent a year in Iraq. But its not a rule against him, its a house rule. One that the younger children know will be enforced.

[otterinbham 0]

Well, I had my kids in a parochial school for about six years, and they make you sign an agreement that they can expel your children for any reason, including behavior not in conformance with what they approve of. Their opinion is that you are not required to attend school there, so you essentially volunteer to obey their rules.

Remember that, nowadays, the function of schools is not to educate but to implement social control. If you go to fundamentalist schools, they have pretty strict rules about what you can and cannot read (one kid was nearly expelled for bringing The Hobbit to school, so go figure).

In public schools, however, there is no such charter. As long as there's not moral turpitude involved, they can't lift a finger.