Monday, May 19, 2008

Lyla Marx


Hey everyone, I’m Lyla Marx, the senior class president this year at Grand Heights. I am present in many of the social scenes at Grand Heights. The activities that were recently uncovered did not come as a surprise to me. What shocked me was the behavior on the part of both students and administration. I have to say that this whole incident is a big mess and I’m not quite sure how I feel about all of it. I want to say that I am ashamed of the way many of the students have acted. It’s moronic to believe that no consequences will come to those who publicly post themselves braking laws. The internet is a public place and students who post illegal pictures and materials are as good as incriminating themselves. I’ve heard cries of outrage and a call for the right to privacy, but it’s a two way street; if students want their privacy, they have to keep their private matters out of the public eye. The public can’t be expected to turn a blind eye to what ever students choose to do with their time.I’d like to point out that there is no such thing as ‘a right to privacy’. The constitution doesn’t specifically state that there is a guarantee of such a right. In light of this point, all people should be aware of exactly what information computers are sending out. The internet is a useful tool for those wishing to gain information about individuals.
I do side with many of the angered parents and students. It is not the job of the school system to dig into the lives of the students. They are not in charge of keeping the law their job is to educate and that’s it. It is not up to the administration to track down the private lives of the students. There is some grey area in this issue however. I’m not sure what to do about the students who have signed contracts to stay drug free for sports. I think it is the school’s right to kick students off teams if they are found engaging in these activities. However, I think the school doesn’t have the authority to punish contract breaking students in any way not related to the sports team. For example, giving detentions, suspending and so forth isn’t in the school’s domain. I also don’t think that the school should be able to punish any student who has not signed a contract. Graduated students should also be free from punishment. Administration should learn their places and keep their long noses out of other people’s jobs. It is the job of the law enforcement to keep people from breaking laws.
The Punk Rocky magazine should not even be in this argument. It was a magazine created outside school walls and had nothing to do with the school. The police can take care of law breakers. The magazine had nothing to do with the school and the school has no right to track down drug dealers and former students for misdemeanors that were not preformed ion conjunction with the school. I think the question is not whether people should get in trouble for the things they post on the internet. In my opinion, people who display pictures of themselves doing illegal things automatically forfeit their right to privacy. The answer to that question is yes. The real question is whether school administrations should have the right to punish students based on the things they post. For the most part, I think the answer to that question is no.

12 comments:

ABarmore said...

Lyla,

Your comments come as a surprise to me. I know you are friends with all of these kids that got in trouble, you are probably the one that ran and decided not to get in trouble.

But I do agree with you that kids these days do not realize how stupid they are. Kids put every single picture they take online, not even realizing that it will soon get them in trouble. As part of the school system I agree that it is not our job to control the kids outside of school, but if the pictures come into school it is our job to handle them the correct way. You as student president should set a better example and show them what it takes to be succesful! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_Body_President

mgartner said...

Lyla Marx,

I think that the students made very poor decisions without knowing the consequences they would receive. They are all shocked that the school is taking action but it is the administration's job to control the student body and keep them safe. As student body president you have a lot of power to influence your fellow classmates. You should take advantage of that and help them realize that these were bad choices and these students needed to be punished. You are more influential than you think!

Thanks,
Mrs. Calibo
Guidance Counselor

zoe said...

Ms.Marx,

I am glad that you are the one who is student body president. You have a strong head and you are being looked up to at all times. But what we need right now is a peer of these students to stand up and say how ridiculous these actions are so that the students realize that nobody thinks it is cool to post nude and drunk pictures online.
I am trying to organize an assembly to speak out about these atrocities , and I already spoke to J.T. "Powerhouse" Cunningham. But I was wondering if the two of you could be leaders and speak out against these actions.

get back to me soon!
-James Johnson, dean of students

Jeff T said...

Lyla,
You have a good head on your shoulder s I really like the way you went about dealing with this matter as the class president. If i were in you shoes i would know what to do with kids looking up to you when you a just a kid yourself. And if kids are that stupid to put pictures of them selves on a public place then they should be pursecuted for it. Our teens are way to cocky and think that what ever they do wont effect them well they are wrong they need to be sure to stay safe and if they choose not to that is there own fault. Our administration is doing everything they can to clean up this huge mess in the best way possible and we need your help to keep our students safe and clean for the remainder of the year.
coach kell

ABarmore said...

Lyla,

I did get into trouble with the law, but it was never made public onto the internet. My comments make a lot of sense. As a staff, we do not like to get involved which means we are not going to go out and search for kids personal lives. However, if something is made public to us, we are going to take care of it. That is what those comments mean. Does that make sense to you?

Ty Longby

Chelseaw said...

Hey BFF,

I agree with what you have to say regarding the MySpace picture scandal. While the kids are in school, it is a different story. But when the kids are out of school it is their responsibility. The administrators can't control the students outside of school, and it isn't their job to. There is a certain extent to where they can get involved and I think they may have gone a little too far this time.

-Herald Hounderson

Brandon K. said...

Hey Lyla, hows it going. I like your views about how the school shouldn't be digging into the lives of student, espicially when all these things happened outside of school. Even former students are under fire about these kind of things. I hope that since your the class president you can help on these kind of things. That would be really nice

Chet Ander

Heather said...

Ms. Lyla Marx,

My students have become my responsibility since the day that I became principal at Grand heights High School. I also do not believe that the government is going to stop and take time to look at the MySpace photos from our students, so who will deal with it? When these pictures are brought to our attention, we notify the parents as well as make consequences. The rules at Grand Heights state that if any student is caught with alcohol or drugs or gets a minor then they are out of their sport(s) with numerous other consequences. Just because we discovered this harmful action before the student were caught by the police doesn’t mean that we will just blow it off. About your other topic, administrators do have the right to search students property on school ground and we have never taken that for granted. We only search when we have probable cause. I did not waste my time by sitting on the computer and searching for these photos, it was simply brought to my attention from an anonymous source. It was my job to take action, I had no choice. I know that my job is to educate the students here at Grand Heights but it is also my job to make sure that they are all safe. Many people are saying that what I am doing is wrong, but I will not just let my students hurt themselves by being involved in this illegal activity. I realize that this issue truly affects the student body and I am doing what I believe is right.
-Mr. Man

Mike B. said...

Dear Lyla,
I'm glad to see a student, especially the is class president is taking responsibility for her fellow students actions. I agree one hundred percent that the pictures online are not private, its a public website and the school chose to act with consequences. I am still shaping my opinion on the magazine, yes it did have absolutely nothing to do with school but it was presented to the school, I would of been surprised if they did nothing about it. I am fine about the consequences of the drug dealer, the facts are he deals drugs to minors and if the police weren't going to do anything about it then the school might as well.

Thanks for your time
Nigel Klaus

College Girl said...

Lyla-
Oh for sure the law enforcement should punish them as well. That would be the best but not always the easiest. And you are completely right with the athletes. They signed a contract and no matter what kind of contract you sign, if you break it you should be punished. And that is a promise to the school so the school can get involved in that. But the others, the school should stay away. There was an incident at Eden Prarie High School similar to this and I think the school handled it very well. They punished all of those who were athletes and had signed a contract and left the others alone for the law enforcement or the parents. That is exactly what should happen.

April Shauers

Josh R said...

Lyla,
You have a very good argument. Bringing up the court case even brought more evidence to your side. I still feel that teachers could have asked me to put my music away politely instead of just taking it away, but whats done is done. Good point about the football player as well. Posting dumb pictures like that just to gain attention just gets on my nerves. I don't know if students are trying to get attention though when they post pictures of themselves drinking. They might not have posted those pictures in the first place but that might not be their intentions.

Josh R said...

Good thoughts
-Frank