Should schools regulate student use of online social networks?

well, im doing an essay about reguating myspace at schools, and my concern is that when a teacher hacks into your page. . . thats an INVASION OF PRIVACY. people think that myspace is just a site where it shouldn't have anything to do with school . . .butttttttt, it can help a student cause if they can't get ahold of their friends then they can just myspace them :DDD hahaha, and all that stuff. People that use myspace as a threat like sending messages, and wosses. they don't need to block myspace, i mean its not like were gonna post some crap about school on there, i just think there taking it TO FARR!!!!!!!! >:|

i am a student at a high school. I think these sites such as myspace and facebook should be blocked. Kids need to focus on their schoolwork.

Will I say no because some kids at school need a web site to do work and it is block so that why it is a right idea to do that. We can not do work because at school or home because we don't have a computer at home and at school because some web site that give good information about the thing we are looking for so it is good to not block web sites

hmmm...this is kinda ridiculos...the rea[eted sex preadotor thing is stupid. i have to say...maybe if u tell ur kids "hey dont tell some random guy to come have sex with you" this wouldnt be a problem...is it distarcting? well yeh. but most students are responsible and know to do work first...plus to most people comp. class is blow off time anyways...thats what you people arent doing is going down to the individual level...you can use myspace etc. as a learning tool. You can really get to know your students. Too many people just want to change a kid to who they think the kid should be. crush them and pick up whats left...idk blocking myspace is a waste of your time imo... its all good though...people will always have a new proxy to be used for every block you have =D

Kids are now using proxy sites to bypass web sites that schools and libraries have blocked.
And yes, I think that schools should block sites like myspace, Facebook, etc.
Proxy sites should be blocked too so kids can't use them to access blocked sites in school.

From an administrators standpoint a school has very little choice but to block the sites as long as the students are minors. The legal profession will make mincemeat of any school that has any kind of negative student social problem that can be traced back to school hours access to these sites. In a perfect world, teaching kids about smart behavior is all we should have to do, but in America's sue crazy society, when it comes to dealing with minors, there simply isn't a viable option to blocking.

Bandwidth is an issue. Taking up bandwidth for non-academic purposes impedes Internet access for educational purposes. There are legitimate uses of blogs in classes and these should be allowed.

but yet half of the teacher i know all have a facebook account so what is so wrong with us having one in school

Myspace and Facebook are the most popular websites among high school students and some of them don't understand that these sites can jeopardize their careers. I strongly believe that these sites are very distracting. When I was in a classrooom with a computer I would sit on Myspace the whole time and not pay attention to the professor and this happens with a lot of students. The real problem is that kids, teens, and adults post personal things on their page that people should not know. Some even have pictures that are very inappropriate and this can make their first impression to other people look very bad. It had been said that a lot of companies now look at their employees or new hires' Myspace pages. If your page has this kind of personal information and inappropriate pictures then you will most likely not get the job. Other issues have been about alcohol and drugs being posted on peoples' profiles. If a student is an athlete this can also jeopardize their athletic career. In my opinion if the school blocks these types of websites there can be some advantages and some disadvantages. If they do block these sites it will most likely not distract students during classtime. It will also keep the students focused on what they need to be doing. I do believe that some students, even adults do have Myspace to keep in touch with people close to them or people from other countries. A lot of adults my age keep in touch with people that they went to middle school and high school with. It's incredible how many people you can keep in touch with and for some people this is the only way to keep in touch with each other. Taking this away from students will only make them pissed off and feel like they are being disciplined. There is an option in Myspace to make your profile private; where only your friends can see it and I think everyone should do this. With this option in order to see the other person's profile they must request you as a friend and you have to approve them. With all the security options and privacy options for Myspace I don't think there is any need for schools to block these types of websites.

It appears that the use of social-networking Websites maybe a little more of a headache than it is worth. The National School Boards Association web article discusses how social networking websites has caused significant problems in the school setting. On their list of problems: Cyber-bullying in which students and teachers could be targeted for harassment or even physically threatened as well as inappropriate postings that disrupt the learning environment. Bullying, harassment and physical threats can occur without a computer and just as we educators do not tolerate such behavior in the absence of a computer it should not be allowed in the presence of one. Myspace and Facebook, etc. maybe popular among the young, however, popular does not equal good. Safety should always be exercised first, especially in the case of children. Until these new technologies can fix what is broken, executing its potential/actual educational value in a secured safe manner, it is in our best interest to leave Pandora's box closed.