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Student reacts to Pewaukee High School Internet rules

PEWAUKEE - One Pewaukee High School student is questioning whether district officials have the right to discipline students for actions they commit off school grounds.

Pewaukee High School Principal Martin VanHulle told students over the loud speaker Tuesday that students can be punished for inappropriate postings toward staff, students or the school on Web sites like MySpace.com.

Owen Abbott, a Pewaukee High School senior, was a self-described casual user of MySpace - a Web site that allows people to anonymously create profiles and post pictures and comments - until the address by VanHulle. He said he has since posted his dismay of administrative calls to remove writing that he said may be deemed "anti-school."

"It�s just crazy. They can�t punish us for posting opinions on the school that we can�t even access from the school. It doesn�t make any sense," Abbott said.

VanHulle could not be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon, but Superintendent JoAnn Sternke said the district does have the right to punish students for postings on Web sites that are "violent or malicious or threatening."

Sternke said VanHulle�s address to students came after a parent notified him of "unflattering" and "character-eroding" information posted on a false profile for a high school teacher on MySpace.

The profile allegedly contained a picture of the teacher pulled from the district�s official Web site and was removed by MySpace earlier this week after a request from the school, Sternke said. Further investigation by administrators of MySpace profiles found other bogus and embarrassing teacher profiles as well as pictures and writing by students about smoking, drinking and engaging in actions in violation of school policy, VanHulle wrote in a district newsletter.

A Feb. 27 deadline has been set by VanHulle for students to remove items that "may cause the school concern." For Sternke, the administration�s stance is within policy and strives for an educational high road.

"We wanted to make students aware that if they are communicating about school they could be subject to school discipline," she said. "If it�s directed at faculty or it undermines safety or authority, that�s the test you use."

Abbott said he never saw the fake profile Sternke mentioned. Ultimately, he thinks the crackdown by administrators is a violation of his Constitutional rights.

"People just come there onto MySpace, post stupid things, like they had a rough time in English class, and (the school) wants that removed," Abbott said.

Jim Haessly, Waukesha School District director of student services, said he believes a school district holds the right to discipline students for actions outside of school. Last week, it was revealed Haessly�s district dealt with MySpace-related problems among students at Waukesha South High School who had also posted controversial items on the Web site.

State statute, Haessly said, allows school boards to "do all things reasonable to promote the cause of education."

"I think if we spent time and energy looking at it, even if it happened outside of school, we could make an argument that it is punishable," Haessly said.

Haessly said a school board would need to make a rule and make parents aware of it, however, to enforce discipline.

Sternke said she could not recall the exact policy that mentions how a student�s behavior outside of school could be subject to discipline. The district can monitor all district technology, though existing policy is related to using school Internet network and computers. MySpace and similar sites cannot be accessed on school computers.

By JUSTIN KERN and LAWRENCE SILVER - GM Today Staff February 18, 2006

Posted by: lifeischeese
Source Article

Posted in: News on February 19, 2006 @ 12:00 AM

Tags: School

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