Note To College Kids: Big Brother's On Facebook, Too

from the yasns,-pi dept

Employers and prospective daters have been using Google as a poor man's background check, but Facebook is the new tool of choice for colleges and universities trying to crack down on student misbehavior. Apparently, college students drink alcohol and get up to all sorts of other things their schools don't approve of, and some schools now feel it's a good use of their time to surf around Facebook and find content about kids breaking the rules. A student at a Boston school got expelled for a Facebook post criticizing a campus police office, while a California university says it's got the right to discipline kids for things they post online. It's probably not very smart for students to put up details of their exploits online, whether it's on Facebook, a photo site, or in blogs, given how easy it is for the material to still be found years later. But really, do the administrations of these schools have nothing better to do than troll around Facebook looking for rule-breakers?
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  • identicon
    Rob, 2 Nov 2005 @ 11:53am

    facebook checking

    As a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, I can say from first hand experience that yes, the administration of the school has nothing better to do then look around facebook for violations. I have heard of numerous instances where facebook pictures, group memberships, and posts have been used against students, to punish them.
    I'm not sure if its just RIT or other schools also, but I am now in my 5th and final year here and the administration is more than ever treating the student body unfairly. It's almost like we have no constitutional rights being a student, often times we are guilty until proven innocent. The punishments have gotten extremely harsh and unfair, almost impossible to live by. I understand that we are on the schools private property and therefore they are the law of the land, but its getting a little out of hand.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Chris, 2 Nov 2005 @ 12:32pm

      Re: facebook checking

      Yeh but RIT is anal about everything. You can't do anything here and expect to get away with it.

      (someone yells)
      Did someone say girls?
      ...i'll be back soon

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Dec 2005 @ 6:45am

      Re: facebook checking

      It happened at Penn State too.

      PSU Rushed the field after beatting Ohio State. And it took Riot police to get us off.

      Cops were IDing students duewho went on the field. viva face book. Going off possible groups such as "I was at the OSU game" and "I rushed the field at the OSU game"

      Perfectly legal. But there is a wonder why the cops are hated so much here.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Shannon, 2 Nov 2005 @ 2:08pm

    facebook

    I just had a party busted by NIU cops this past weekend, because my roommate's dumb ass posted it all over Facebook.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Barry durstine, 2 Nov 2005 @ 2:31pm

    I was born in America

    Arricas free and I don't give a shit..I will contue to post whatever I want an denie everything when they come to get me I'll bight them in the ass so hard they wont feal it till its ruined them

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    maggie, 26 Mar 2006 @ 2:32pm

    my school sux

    I go to Salem College and our deans look at everyone's facebook and myspace to see what they can get the girls in trouble for.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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