The assault on MySpace is gaining traction. ABC News just covered the new policy at Libertyville High School in Illinois that would penalize students for content they’ve posted on their MySpace page. At the same time a bill in Congress called the Deleting Online Predators Act is increasingly getting attention.
Those of us who care about youth rights and freedom of speech aren’t sitting on our hands however. We are mobilizing to fight back. A longtime ally of NYRA, Mobilizing America’s Youth has joined the fray and is actively opposing HR 5319 with a great site full of many resources for writing letters to your congressmen opposing the bill and getting the word out. Check out their site here and make use of some of their tools to oppose HR 5319.
Another good place to check out is a wiki with more information on the bill and how to fight it.
Adam B. Kushner has a great piece in the Washington Examiner about Sen. John McCain’s commencement address at Columbia last week that was “cloaked in a terrifically condescending homily about the arrogance of youth.”
NEW YORK - Last week, as they sat in the pouring rain, John McCain insulted Columbia’s graduating class. He also delivered praise, a paean to freedom, a denunciation of relativism (“a mask for arrogance and selfishness”), and a plea for civility in disagreement — all of which was movingly and rightly argued. But it was cloaked in a terrifically condescending homily about the arrogance of youth.
There had been a good deal of hubbub at Columbia in the weeks since his announcement as graduation speaker. Those left of center — more than half of the graduating class, although not all are politically active — were disappointed that the graduation-day advice about how to enter the world would not reflect their own values. Fair enough. And those on the far left — a small minority but a very vocal one — were disgusted that somebody with McCain’s worldview could even be invited to address Columbia, which they had spent their undergraduate years trying to move leftward. (This was silly; one of the best things about a liberal arts education is that exposes you to different strains of thought — if only to strengthen your own.)
Protests were organized. Fliers were circulated. And pins were distributed saying, “McCain Does Not Speak for Me.” Many graduates affixed them to their gowns, and some parents followed suit. All of this seemed a bit hasty to me, given that nobody yet knew exactly what McCain would say. And, in the end, most of what he said was conciliatory and ingenuous. With regard to their arguments against him, he said, “It’s your right and your obligation. I respect you for it.”
But he pre-empted this with a nasty oration. “When I was a young man,” he told the graduates, among whom I count my brother, “I was quite infatuated with self-expression, and rightly so, because, if memory conveniently serves, I was so much more eloquent, well-informed and wiser than anyone else I knew. It seemed I understood the world and the purpose of life so much more profoundly than most people. I believed that to be especially true with many of my elders, people whose only accomplishment, as far as I could tell, was that they had been born before me, and, consequently, had suffered some number of years deprived of my insights. I had opinions on everything, and I was always right.”
Somewhat related to the last post about the War on MySpace, now this is a case of schools using information posted on student’s websites and MySpace pages to punish them. The Chicago Tribune did a story on it, and asked for our comments. Excerpts:
A north suburban school district could become one of the first in the state to adopt rules holding students accountable for what they post on blogs or social-networking Web sites like MySpace.com.
The school board of Community High School District 128, which includes Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools, is expected to vote Monday on a change to student conduct codes that would make evidence of “illegal or inappropriate behavior” posted on the sites grounds for disciplinary action.
and:
he proposed change states that “maintaining or being identified on a blog site which depicts illegal or inappropriate behavior will be considered a violation of this code.”
Lea said officials would treat any incriminating information from a Web site as evidence they would use while conducting an investigation into the offending behavior.
If district officials find illegal Web content about a student who is not involved in activities, they would investigate, contact the student’s parents and decide whether to discipline the student or involve police, Lea said.
NYRA’s official statement on the issue:
The National Youth Rights Association strongly condemns schools that use online information about a student as grounds for punishment.
From a simple picture posted online of a student holding a beer bottle it would be impossible to tell whether the bottle is full or empty, whether that student had been consuming it or not, whether the student is in the presence of parents which would make the situation legal, or whether the student is overseas in a country where consuming alcohol is legal. For such reasons a picture posted online is not sufficient evidence for adults to be prosecuted for similar crimes, and should not be used to punish students.
Regardless, schools attempting to punish students for actions done outside of school is a dramatic overreaching of school authority. No longer do schools seem concerned with the education of students, but rather are now going to extreme measures to control behavior both in and out of school – territory best left to parents.
In the Tinker vs. Des Moines Supreme Court case at issue was the rights of students in school. The Court issued a stern warning that the “Bill of Rights does not stop at the schoolhouse gate” sadly if this school policy is allowed to stand not only will the Bill of Rights no longer apply inside the schoolhouse gate, but it won’t apply outside of it either. The Court that stated that “schools should not be enclaves of totalitarianism” could have never dreamed that schools would seek to spread that totalitarianism into the personal lives of students, with jurisdiction over them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
This new measure gives schools a great deal more power over students, and thus far schools have a terrible record for acting responsibly with such power. There have been many cases of schools punishing students simply for criticizing a principle on a private website, and “outing” gay students to their parents. This new policy will result in punishment for all students – whether they are in an extra curricular activity or anything the school deems “inappropriate”.
Unless a student’s behavior directly and tangibly disrupts learning at school, it is simply none of the school’s business. Schools are not a massive unrestrained police force for all individuals under 18. Taking on that role is harmful to students and harmful to education.
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Executive Director
National Youth Rights Association
On an unseasonably cold May afternoon, I left my internship a little early to meet some old acquaintances on the steps in front of New York City Hall. Another member of The National Youth Rights Association had heard about Lew Fidler’s bill to end the cell phone ban in New York City schools, and he wanted our organization to send a few members to the press conference. Councilmember Fidler’s speech, like every other speech delivered in front of City Hall, was barely audible only a few rows back.
From what I could make out, Councilman Fidler and the other speakers (who included a number of angry parents and two students) said that the ban on cell phones was dangerous. They emphasized the fact that parents need to be in touch with their children before and after school, how the ban was an example of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein infringing upon “parents rights,” and how parents had not been included in the decision making process. I thanked Councilmember Fidler for his bill (which will do a great service to New York City students,) but I could not help but think that some of the reasons behind it were misguided. The cell phone ban, like most other restrictions in public schools, is not wrong because it infringes on the rights of parents, it is wrong because it infringes on the rights of students themselves. After the press conference ended, a great many angry students carried signs that read “we are not criminals” and “more books less cops.” I think that with only a few reductionist chants, these students said more about what is wrong with the Mayor’s policy than anything I heard during the press conference.
Over thirty years after the Supreme Court ruled that schools can not be enclaves of totalitarianism, schools continue to be driven more by misguided protectionism and a fear of litigation than by respect for student’s rights or the democratic process. Despite the fact that the socio-economic conditions under which compulsory education laws were first passed have been largely eradicated in The United States, students are punished for choosing not to attend class. Despite the fact that experiments with Sudburys and Free Schools have all but proven the educational theories of people like John Holt and A.S. Neil, their ideas remain far outside of the mainstream.
While their schools ignored Tinker V. Des Moines, or perhaps even operated under the misconception that Tinker V. Des Moines had been overturned in the 1980’s, students from across New York City honored the legacy of Mary Beth Tinker by standing up for justice in the face of ridicule and disciplinary action. Walk outs, letters to politicians, and other acts of resistance lead to a critical mass, and the New York City Council was forced to take action. If only this outrage could be channeled in to a general outrage over ageism in America, the root cause of things like the cell phone ban. If only this outrage were present at Croton-Harmon High School.
Well it was bound to happen. With all the media hysteria over MySpace, any student of our opportunistic elected officials should have known what was coming next. Congress has proposed a bill that would ban MySpace, Facebook, LiveJournal, and potentially all chatrooms, forums, blogs & Instant Messaging from school & library computers. More info here.
No matter that the Internet is safer than church, and the people you meet there less a danger than your own parents, it is the newest boogeyman that we must be saved from. Congress knows there is a tight election coming up, and there is no surer strategy to pander for votes than tell parents their children are in terrible danger from a vague source the parents (or the politicians) don’t fully understand, and propose some ridiculous solution.
This isn’t a liberal vs. conservative issue, its a youth vs. adult issue. You can be assured that Republicans & Democrats will be falling over themselves to support this bill. They don’t care about youth, and left to themselves they aren’t going to stop these kinds of anti-youth bills from being passed. Therefore youth have to speak out.
If we don’t find our voice now, then soon we never will because all the ways in which we communicate will be stripped away from us.
So if you want to stop this bill and you want to save MySpace and AIM and LiveJournal and every other part of the Internet that we know and love, then you have to DO SOMETHING.
Time for NYRA members to pick the 9 valiant youth rights crusaders to lead the organization over the next year. The best part? You don’t have to be 18 to vote!
All full NYRA members are eligible to vote no matter how old you are. Indeed, all full NYRA members are eligible to run for the Board of Directors as well. So if you are interested, be sure to announce your candidacy here.
For everyone else though, this is an important election that will determine the future of this organization, and indeed the future of youth rights in America. So DON’T miss out on your chance to vote.
So far the candidates in the running for the NYRA Board of Directors are:
Alex Koroknay-Palicz (incumbent)
Scott Davidson (incumbent)
Adam King
Chip Sinton
Rich Jahn
Jess Caralize (incumbent)
Zach Hobesh
Chris Batchelor
Connor Nugent
Katrina G. Moncure (incumbent)
I attended the Buncombe County Board of Education’s meeting on Thursday, May 4, 2006. I arrived at 6:00 p.m. for an interview with a cameraman from WLOS. He asked me questions concerning the night’s meeting, what I planned on saying, and I got the chance to clarify for once that I am not running for the position, but still would be willing to accept it if offered. As the Citizen-Times editorial wrote, if I am selected, it will provide the board an example of someone who is responsible and mature, providing them with a good first impression.
When I went into the board auditorium, Stan Alleyne, the Communications Director, commented on how well I have handled myself and he told me good luck. I signed in to speak during the public comment session, and I got to speak after about 45 minutes.
I gave the copies of my documents to the board members personally, and I went to the podium. I delivered my speech, and I provided additional information about how this is a local issue, how much support I have, and why it is necessary to have a student on the school board.
One board member, Bob Embler, asked me redundant questions about school advisory committees and if I even knew about them. I told him that, yes, I do know that schools have these committees. He asked me if I knew that there are two students on it, that the students can represent the student body there, and that the minutes are delivered to the school board. I answered all of these questions, and he asked me a question about how the student advisor would provide equal representation to all of the schools aside from his own. I told him that I specified at the last meeting one student would be selected from each high school and that panel of students would pick one to be the advisor, providing equal representation.
The representative from my school district, Richard Greene, spoke again at this meeting. He told me that he would support my proposal if I can find a way to guarantee that the student advisor would not just be sitting on the board without saying anything.
After I spoke, a local government watch dog, Jerry Rice, spoke in favor of my idea. Jerry has been recording government meetings in Buncombe County for 18 years. Jerry told the board that students are essential to the board - they are the ones that the board is supposed to be representing. He said that he supports my idea completely, and said that I have a lot of courage to stick up for something I believe in. In addition, he said that he didn’t feel that the school advisory committees provide sufficient representation, and he felt that a student advisor would not have any political motivation and would keep the board on task on what it is supposed to do.
After the meeting was adjourned, I thanked the man for speaking, and I was able to speak with him for about ten minutes. Dusty Pless came up to me and told me that he would support the idea if I can find a way to guarantee the student would actually contribute during the meetings.
So, my next steps are going to be to contact more politicians and try to get their support. I did after all, get the encouragement from four politicians. I am also going to send petitions to the other five high schools in the county to supplement the 60 signatures (including all four administrators) that I have from my school. I will contact the state board and ask them what their thoughts on the current student advisors to their board are, and I will try contacting the student advisors themselves and see what they have to say.
If I get more support from politicians, I will likely be holding a press conference to show the media the signing publicly, and to answer any questions that they may have.
I will try to get a copy of the tape from the meeting, and give it to radio stations and other news outlets to play or to listen to. As soon as I get more support and information, I will speak at the next board meeting that I am prepared for, likely in June or July.
Age of Reason is a group blog for the National Youth Rights Association, maintained by our members to help educate and inform the public about youth rights.
It used to be believed that the parent had unlimited claims on the child and rights over him. In a truer view of the matter, we are coming to see that the rights are on the side of the child and the duties on the side of the parent. - William G. Sumner
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