In the uprise of a world where social media and texting are becoming the predominant forms of communication between teens, will a new Illinois law requiring high school students to surrender their Facebook passwords be effective in protecting students or will it create a massive violation of students’ privacy?
This past January, Illinois schools were granted the right to obtain students’ Facebook passwords in cases of cyberbullying. This law also now establishes in-person bullying and cyberbullying as the same severity. According to a 2011 study on daily communication between teenagers, in-person communication comes in third after texting and phone calls. Sixty-three percent of teenagers text everyday and thirty-nine percent make and receive calls, while only thirty-five percent of teens socialize with their peers outside of school everyday. Daily social media messaging comes in at fourth with twenty-nine percent of teen participants.
This past January, Illinois schools were granted the right to obtain students’ Facebook passwords in cases of cyberbullying. This law also now establishes in-person bullying and cyberbullying as the same severity. According to a 2011 study on daily communication between teenagers, in-person communication comes in third after texting and phone calls. Sixty-three percent of teenagers text everyday and thirty-nine percent make and receive calls, while only thirty-five percent of teens socialize with their peers outside of school everyday. Daily social media messaging comes in at fourth with twenty-nine percent of teen participants.
With this huge shift in our culture of communication, this law could potentially aid teachers and school authorities of ending instances of cyberbullying before they begin. But is this law constitutional? The bill of rights protects the free speech of people, including the speech of students, provided that it is not disruptive, offensive or threatening to the school and its students. Under what circumstance should students be mandated to surrender the privacy of their personal social media messages to school authority? |
According to the new law, administrators reserve the right to obtain passwords from students at any time, provided they have a reasonable suspicion or cause for doing so. But how does the state of Illinois define “reasonable suspicion”? If a student or their parent does not surrender a Facebook password upon the school’s request, the student will not simply face disciplinary action from the school, but criminal action from the state.
Included within the Illinois legislation is the intention to kill another bird with one stone. This cyberbullying law will also be used to “minimize destructive behavior” such as drug and alcohol use, vandalism, sexual harassment and violence, fighting, stealing, skipping class, dropping out and other “antisocial” behaviors. What kind of behavior on social media would precipitate a seizure of a student’s password? A message explicitly threatening another student? Giving a like to the “Legalize Marijuana” page? The grey area in between leaves a significant amount of authority up to school administrators and issues in determining what constitutes a student’s right to free speech.
Despite issues with free speech and right to privacy, there is certainly a dire need to take action against cyberbullies. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has taken responsibility in the past for Twitter’s lack of success in eliminating cyberbullies. Costolo reported to The Verge that “it’s no secret” Twitter has issues moderating its website.
“I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing. We're going to start kicking these people off right and left and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them,” Costolo said.
Included within the Illinois legislation is the intention to kill another bird with one stone. This cyberbullying law will also be used to “minimize destructive behavior” such as drug and alcohol use, vandalism, sexual harassment and violence, fighting, stealing, skipping class, dropping out and other “antisocial” behaviors. What kind of behavior on social media would precipitate a seizure of a student’s password? A message explicitly threatening another student? Giving a like to the “Legalize Marijuana” page? The grey area in between leaves a significant amount of authority up to school administrators and issues in determining what constitutes a student’s right to free speech.
Despite issues with free speech and right to privacy, there is certainly a dire need to take action against cyberbullies. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has taken responsibility in the past for Twitter’s lack of success in eliminating cyberbullies. Costolo reported to The Verge that “it’s no secret” Twitter has issues moderating its website.
“I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing. We're going to start kicking these people off right and left and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them,” Costolo said.
In recent years, cyberbullying has grown from hateful language online to a plethora of different forms of abuse, such as rape threats, death threats, stalking and “revenge porn”, an occurrence in which someone posts nude pictures or videos of someone online without their consent. This is not just a phenomenon in Illinois, but a serious issue affecting people everywhere, including students at Florida State.
According to FSU student Kali Mutty, a Snapchat user by the name of “nolesnaps” has been posting “Snapchat stories of naked, clearly intoxicated, passed out women.” Mutty posted on the wall of FSU Female Walking Buddies, “One snapchat in particular that infuriated me was a video of a man spreading a woman's cheeks and revealing her genitals while she was asleep. I have unfollowed & blocked the account and reported it to Snapchat, and I encourage you all to do the same.”
In cases like this, action must be taken to stop repeat sex criminals from acting, even at the expense of personal privacy. For the teenage students of Illinois, this law will raise a myriad of questions. Under what circumstances must the right to security take precedence, and when must the right to privacy take precedence? This is a question for which Illinois high schools, along with the rest of the world — may never find the perfect answer.
-By Lauren Spaunburgh, Editor
According to FSU student Kali Mutty, a Snapchat user by the name of “nolesnaps” has been posting “Snapchat stories of naked, clearly intoxicated, passed out women.” Mutty posted on the wall of FSU Female Walking Buddies, “One snapchat in particular that infuriated me was a video of a man spreading a woman's cheeks and revealing her genitals while she was asleep. I have unfollowed & blocked the account and reported it to Snapchat, and I encourage you all to do the same.”
In cases like this, action must be taken to stop repeat sex criminals from acting, even at the expense of personal privacy. For the teenage students of Illinois, this law will raise a myriad of questions. Under what circumstances must the right to security take precedence, and when must the right to privacy take precedence? This is a question for which Illinois high schools, along with the rest of the world — may never find the perfect answer.
-By Lauren Spaunburgh, Editor