Oak Lawn Students Suspended for MySpace Postings
OAK LAWN (STNG) -- Two students were suspended at an Oak Lawn elementary school last week after the principal discovered questionable postings on a popular Web site, parents said. The MySpace postings allegedly contained foul language, a digitally altered photo of George Bush sticking up his middle finger, pop-ups of women in bikinis and disparaging references to St. Louis De Montfort School and its staff, parents said.
Administrators asked the eighth-grade class to delete their MySpace accounts and threatened to cancel graduation or confirmation ceremonies if they did not, parents said. A boy and girl who allegedly used vulgar words were suspended for four days, parents said. They return to school today.
Parents, who asked that their names not be used, did not necessarily approve of the MySpace postings. But they questioned how Principal Holly Gross accessed their children's pages and whether it was proper for children to be punished because the pages were not created while the children were at school. "She has no right to spy on our children in our own homes," one parent said.
Gross said parents portrayed the situation incorrectly but declined to clarify any misstatements in order to protect the privacy of students and parents. "We continue to act in the best interest of our students in respect to all areas," she said.
MySpace is a popular online hangout spot that lets users create their own Web pages and connect it to their friends and friends' friends. They can leave messages on each other's pages, publish a blog or post photographs and video clips.
Wired magazine ran a 2,500-word article last month tracking what they called the "great MySpace crackdown of '06." Across the country — and the south suburbs are no exception — educators are disciplining kids for their Web postings and sending letters home to parents warning them of the dangers of using MySpace unsupervised. Many schools are using filters to block the site.
Andrew High School athletes were suspended in February after school officials saw photos of them drinking on an online album that is similar to MySpace. Drinking was against the athletic code signed by the girls. Similar punishments have made headlines for Chicago, New Jersey, Tennessee and Nebraska schools.
Generally, public schools cannot punish students for activities outside of the school day that are not related to school, said Chicago ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka. Satire and criticism are protected, as is sexual speech minus references to school, he said. Private schools, however, are not bound by the First Amendment right to free speech, he said.
Copyright 2006 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Administrators asked the eighth-grade class to delete their MySpace accounts and threatened to cancel graduation or confirmation ceremonies if they did not, parents said. A boy and girl who allegedly used vulgar words were suspended for four days, parents said. They return to school today.
Parents, who asked that their names not be used, did not necessarily approve of the MySpace postings. But they questioned how Principal Holly Gross accessed their children's pages and whether it was proper for children to be punished because the pages were not created while the children were at school. "She has no right to spy on our children in our own homes," one parent said.
Gross said parents portrayed the situation incorrectly but declined to clarify any misstatements in order to protect the privacy of students and parents. "We continue to act in the best interest of our students in respect to all areas," she said.
MySpace is a popular online hangout spot that lets users create their own Web pages and connect it to their friends and friends' friends. They can leave messages on each other's pages, publish a blog or post photographs and video clips.
Wired magazine ran a 2,500-word article last month tracking what they called the "great MySpace crackdown of '06." Across the country — and the south suburbs are no exception — educators are disciplining kids for their Web postings and sending letters home to parents warning them of the dangers of using MySpace unsupervised. Many schools are using filters to block the site.
Andrew High School athletes were suspended in February after school officials saw photos of them drinking on an online album that is similar to MySpace. Drinking was against the athletic code signed by the girls. Similar punishments have made headlines for Chicago, New Jersey, Tennessee and Nebraska schools.
Generally, public schools cannot punish students for activities outside of the school day that are not related to school, said Chicago ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka. Satire and criticism are protected, as is sexual speech minus references to school, he said. Private schools, however, are not bound by the First Amendment right to free speech, he said.
Copyright 2006 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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