The Northwood Handbook states that if students who post sensitive material that disrupts the school climate, then they are subject to the Code of Conduct. Students have contrasting opinions about the policy because the rules apply even if the incident took place outside of school hours and property.
Junior Omar Sbaiti disagrees with the current social media policy.
“I think social media should not have anything to do with school,” Sbaiti said. “I think there should be a clear line between the two. They should not depend on each other for any kind of reason.”
Junior Colton Bailey thinks it’s beneficial for the administration to monitor offensive material that students post, tweet or share.
“What we put on the internet, that’s our choice, and often times, it’s not the best decision to make,” Bailey said. “No matter if we tweet or post something while we’re on campus or off campus, I definitely think they should be able to monitor that, just to keep everyone in check.”
Senior Darcy McGregor agrees with the policy.
“When I post on social media, I don’t typically post things I wouldn’t want my family members to see,” McGregor said. “Unless it’s on Snapchat where I have a small group of people I know I trust. When it comes to the policy at Northwood, I tend not to think much of it, just because I’m less blatant with it.”
When Northwood administration gets involved with student’s social media, it is usually because a parent, teacher or student has a concern. If necessary, students are reprimanded by the administration for posting information that can cause a disruption during the school day.
Recently, there was an issue on social media surrounding the Human Rights Week at Northwood. A student posted their opinions of the movement on social media in a negative manner. According to Little, this incident was handled quickly and without incident.
“Students came up here and showed it to us in the front office,” Little said.
When asked what he thought the reason was behind the post, Little said it occurred because a student expressed their views, but there was not a chance to have a rational face to face conversation about the issues at hand.
“Any time you have demonstrations, per se, about things, there is not a conversation,” Little said. “ It’s a one way expression. I think what we saw was the other side of the conversation. In the absence of having folks face to face, all you really get is the demonstration.”
It is important for students to have rational, face to face conversations so that they aren’t taking actions that breach the Code of Conduct.
“The Chatham County Schools Code of Conduct would cover infractions that disrupt the school environment,” assistant principal Janice Giles said. “So that could be something such as the potential to cause a fight, a safety concern here, a student’s well-being and bullying. There’s a lot of different components to consider.”
According to the student handbook, “Students participating in the exchange of inappropriate, vulgar, harassing, or any offensive social media need to understand that they are jeopardizing the school’s ability to write a positive college letter of recommendation regarding that student’s character,” in addition to being punished for disrupting the school climate. A school recommendation letter can influence a student’s acceptance into college.
The administration has the ability to get involved even if something was posted outside of school property and hours. If the offensive material is posted from a school computer or on school property, then the administration will get involved.
“If students are accessing media websites while they’re in school, we certainly have access to that, because it’s through our computers and our network,” assistant principal Philip Little said.
Giles believes that it is difficult to define the amount of social media the Northwood administration monitors.
“I think it’s hard to judge that,” Giles said. “I mean, we hear about a lot of things, and I’m sure there’s a lot more happening that we don’t know about. But obviously, most of the things brought to our attention are concerns.”
The ultimate goal of the administration is to keep students safe. By responding appropriately to issues brought to their attention, they can achieve this goal.
“Usually the more effort it takes to figure it out, the greater number of students that are impacted by it,” Little said. “If it is something that is illegal that was posted, or perhaps insinuated some sort of harm to self or others then we act on that very quickly and the consequences just follow whatever the pieces are.”