(U-WIRE) CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Facebook calls itself “an online directory that connects people through social networks at schools.” Many Boston College students consider it a procrastination tool.
But if a recent trend at numerous universities around the country continues, the Facebook may also become a watchdog tool. Students at schools across the country have recently been charged with everything from alcohol related infractions to making threatening comments to a campus police officer—all from photos or information posted on the Facebook.
“Students need to be careful about what they post online, in instant messages, and in phone voice mails,” said Director of Residential Life Henry Humphreys.
Res Life has made no searches of the Facebook or other online databases with the intent of checking up on students, according to Humphreys, and he said he has never looked at the Facebook at all.
If information or photographs found online affect the well-being of students or show a breaking of University policy and are brought to the attention of Res Life, it is the department’s responsibility to act upon it.
Humphreys mentioned that several such cases have arisen, involving students leaving messages implying a possible intent to harm themselves, as well as making inflammatory and threatening remarks toward a person or group of people.
In April, a parent of a Boston College student found pictures from her daughter’s online photo gallery that showed students in a Keyes South residential hall room with beer cans in the background. The parent informed Res Life of the photos and the students were forced to meet with their resident director.
“Basically in the shots they were able to see everyone who was in the room and the beer cans,” said Dennis Bichsel, class of ’08, one of the students involved. “We never got formal documentation [of the incident] and they basically told us that if we did anything for the rest of the year, period, we could get kicked out of our housing placement.
”We were kinda left in the dark about it. We didn’t know if we were in trouble,“ he continued.
The students received no formal punishment from Res Life.
”If a situation arises where we can identify the students involved, we will talk with those students,“ said Humphreys, about finding pictures of underage students with alcohol in the residence halls. ”As for the judicial process, that part would be up in the air.“
The number of instances across the country involving students being charged with various offenses thanks to information derived from Internet sources has seen a sharp increase of late.
Earlier this week, The Northerner, the campus newspaper of Northern Kentucky University, reported that five NKU students were fined $50, put on a one-year probation from campus housing, and were forced to take classes on the dangers of binge drinking because of Facebook pictures that featured the students with a keg in a dorm room—a violation of university policy.
”The Technician,“ the student paper of North Carolina State University, reported a similar story last week involving 15 students charged with various alcohol offenses because of pictures posted on the Facebook from earlier in the semester.
And in the most extreme case this year, ”The Boston Globe“ reported that a Fisher College student was the first student to be expelled from a college due to information found on the Facebook. The student had made threatening comments about a campus police officer, saying among other things that the officer ”loves to antagonize students … and needs to be eliminated.“
With the growth of the Facebook—approximately 85 percent of college students are members, according to the site—more information students might normally keep private is becoming public. As ”The Technician“ raised in an editorial, the situation brings up ethical concerns about privacy and what institutions can use to bring charges against students.
”I think it’s a violation of student’s privacy,“ said Jennifer Cadigan, class of ’07. ”If it’s not anything that’s dangerous or life threatening, it just seems like another means to get students in trouble.“
With the proliferation of sources for sharing pictures and information online, this trend could continue. As Big Brother watches over, students may need to think twice about what information they put into the public domain.
”I feel it encroaches on personal freedoms. [Facebook] was designed as a forum for students to express themselves, but having administration interfere is a breach of that intention,“ said Sean MacDonald, class of ’08.”
Leave a Reply