School Disciplines Student Over MySpace Profanity

A Burleson High School junior was suspended from the drill team because of her MySpace page, administrators said Monday.

Lindsey Wessel, 16, was told she could not perform at the school’s first football game as a member of the "Strutters" drill team.

"I think it's really stupid," Wessel said. "It's my private life."

Wessel said administrators first told her she was disciplined because of provocative photos she had posted of herself in a bathing suit, but that they later claimed it was because of offensive language.

I can see many angles on this situation. One of the most prominent is the fact that it seems the school was out to get her. For what ever reason be it more than likely some one who's parents are on the faculty did not make the team.

My biggest problem with this is that this is a clear violation of first ammendment rights. What that girl said on her myspace is her buisness. She had her profile set to private and therefore the information is considered not public. I know others will contest the fact that because it was on a networking site it is no longer private information, but it still is. The school has no right to be snooping around or using information from a persons personal life to restrict what they can do.

This is probably a sign of things to come. We have lost our privacy and yet not many care. Those people who do not care now will care when ever they are denied a job because of some thing that they posted.

If a child is not being harmed then the school and the government need to stay out of their personal business.

NBC news source.

[edit on 13-8-2009 by LeaderOfProgress]

We've got some interesting ideas about public schools and their students. We went from, my years of school (1950's-60's) when administrators claimed students were not protected from other students once they were off school property. This meant to me that, the guy I made angry in school could then wait off the property with his friends and beat the bejessus out of me and the school had no authority or responsibility.

Then, in the 1980's, one of my daughters was waiting, on school property to get on her bus after school, she was knocked to the ground by a couple of unruly students, had multiple shoe prints on her back, and then tossed infront of a school bus that barely was able to stop before running over her. The school administrators at that time claimed, school was out and, hey, they can't be expected to maintain discipline and good order after the last bell rang, now can they?

And today, a student, on her own time, on her own computer, can be disciplined for actions that took place out of school, and which didn't even constitute a crime.

Sheesh.

Oh, yeah, they are the government and they can have it anyway they want it.

Yup. It's just wrong.

We LET it happen though. No one complained when employers, city councils, cheer leading squads and everyone else in the world starting using your online 'presence' to determine whether you were fit to continue being part of society.

It reallt IS just kind of assumed these days that everything you do online will stare back at you someday when some stern looking, self-righteous, a$$ is judging you for what you've written, said or photo'd.



[edit on 13-8-2009 by KSPigpen]

Where's the pictures? LULZ

This is messed up, even if she did say bad words on her Myspace page, WHO THE HELL CARES!!!

I bet you could go through that whole schools Myspace pages and come up with equal or worse things on at least half of the pages.

I remember mine used to say my hobbies were doing coke off the back of the toilets in school. lol I never did, it was just funny and others thought so too.

I'd understand if she threatened the life of someone at the school, but provocative pictures and obscene language is a sign of the times.

I go to a private High School, and kids get expelled all the time for their online activities. I feel that it is very wrong, and although I don't participate in social Networking sites like Myspace and Facebook others should be able to without fear. Text messages about other students are also cause for disciplinary action.

reply to post by Negotium of Verum


In all honesty though, a private school is just that. You are giving your consent to thier rules and standards. Now public school is a different cat. Public schools are ran by the government and as such are subject to the laws of the constitution that state free speach is a right.