Twitter is a social media site that has dramatically increased in popularity. Is it being monitored here at York Suburban? photo from http://dmjuice.com
What is the school’s policy on monitoring social media? Clarification regarding this topic is essential, as many York Suburban students are concerned about faculty hacking into their private lives.
Dr. Brian Ellis, principal of York Suburban High School, said that when faculty monitors social media, they view public information on a student’s account.
Ellis noted that he, Dr. Denise Fuhrman, and Mr. Christopher Adams are the three faculty members primarily in charge of investigating students’ social media accounts. He also said that monitoring students’ Twitter accounts is neither a plan nor a practice.
Ellis added that typically people will come to him with a concern regarding bullying or a fight and inform him of what has happened. Only after a member of the faculty is informed of such an event will they view students’ social media accounts to find out who’s saying what.
Keeping students, teachers, and the school safe is the faculty’s main priority.
Senior Seth Rosenkrans echoed this idea. “People need to understand that the administration isn’t out to get us, they’re out to protect us,” Rosenkrans said.
Ellis stressed that no hacking occurs when accounts are monitored. The faculty views only public posts, tweets, etc. on social media sites unless the school itself, its teachers, or its students are threatened, in which case the faculty would access private messages and information.
“As long as people think before they tweet and do not post threatening [information], they don’t have to worry about the district looking at their accounts,” Rosenkrans added.
There is software available to view private information on social media, but Ellis said faculty is not looking into purchasing it.
He added that posting on social media sites does prompt follow-up. “If we can see it, so can everyone else, so students need to be very conscientious with what they post in the first place,” he advised.
Senior Breah Koller believed similarly. “I don’t think this should be much of a problem,” Koller said. “It’s up to you to choose what you post, and if it’s something you don’t want people to see, just don’t do it. You’re setting it up for the public to see, and teachers and administration are included in that too.”
Ellis concluded that all social media falls under the same category in terms of what faculty monitors.