Should schools regulate student use of online social networks?

Yes. Students have no place on the internet until they're 18. The world doesn't need any more little minors spamming the internet with their impossible-to-decipher pseudo-English.
And a good majority of you who commented here should be ashamed. You're ruining the next generation by giving them too much freedom.

Stop being such Facists, you can't control what the students do, If they want to look at Myspace, Facebook, or Youtube, then let them, because if they aren't allowed to do it legitimately, they'll do it illegitimately. Students should be free to do whatever they want on the internet, and if they do mess up, then thats their problem, NOT YOURS, and they will have to get out of it by themselves. Also, places like Myspace can't be used for 'learning' (as suggested in column 'B'.) Think about it, how many students a day come into the school and aren't even slightly interested in the stuff you teach them that they will NEVER use in their lives.

Hahaha. Notice how all the people who are for the blocking of social networking sites can't spell? Besides, if they actually had potential they wouldn't use those sites in the first place. Myspace and Bebo are just failed projects, Twitter has way too much content on every page and Facebook users are generally too smart to use it during school. Besides, the public schools block system is highly outdated, I hacked it in about 5 minutes first time, now I can do it in 1 minute.

Also, for those who think that they'd spend all their time on these sites if you stopped blocking them, just don't tell them. Most of us are idiots, I have to admit.

I think that you shouldn't block the sites because that's pretty stupid. I mean it's really not at all distracting! I hate how schools restrict students from certain things. People spell "cuz" like that because it's shorter! I'm getting tired of all the older Generations acting like these Social Networks are soooo horrible when they really don't cause a threat or harm! Students are aware of the dangers, I believe that schools should tell the students how to protect themseleves for the people who are dumb who need to be reminded! Before you people talk about "PROPER ENGLISH" Americans don't speak that....we speak in different Dialects and "cuz" is Ebonics!

Yes it should be blocked. I'm all for using Web 2.0 "tools" with students - just not these purely social/entertaiment sites that have already shown great abuses and poor content. Schools should seek out sites that are made for Education organizations. They should be using their collective clout to have services providers post online content to these types of sites - such as Teacher Tube instead of YouTube. They are already out there - insist they are used instead of these.

And as far as your Essay and your assumption that it's an invasion of privacy - you are WAY OFF! You lost your privacy the moment you submitted it. And that is the first lesson for all our students.

I feel like I am reading the results of grade school students. The only person who has said something intelligent is Laura. Myspace, Facebook, Youtube, and sites like those should be blocked for students who do not maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher. Personally I wouldn't care if people with lower GPA's got on rather than doing the work they should be doing only because IT IS YOUR GRADES! Not mine. What's more important, Myspace or graduating on time or at all? Most kids now days will choose Myspace and that is the future of Amarica. Oh joy.

To be frank, when a student is in an ACCESS class [or a distance course] that is taken on school grounds, it is very easy to get sidetracked and distracted, however, the work in some courses takes very little time, thusly allowing the student to have a long period of free time. I'm actually currently in ACCESS and I've gotten all the work for the rest of the week already completed. I'd like to check my myspace, twitter accounts. The school's server also blocks out many charity sites I work on, because they are viewed as 'social networking'.

MySpace can be used in the classroom, just like YouTube can be. United Streaming only offers so much to teachers and students. I think that reiterating the fact that internet safety is a must at school should be enough. They don't need to block the networks to make us work; we can always find something else to occupy our time if we really don't want to do the course-work. It's just a little bit on the ridiculous side, especially since educational forums are blocked, too.

I like how all of the kids that are for it use poor grammer, and use words like "cuz" and the 8th grader doesnt even know how to spell ridiclus, this shows that kids need to take more time studying and less time playing on the internet.