Danny Reynolds

Uggh, hello everybody.

I wish I didn't need to be talking about this right now, but here I am. Myspace, Facebook, Xanga, all these social networking sites are tearing up our school and athletics. Whatever happened to people just sending emails? Is there really a need to post everything about you to the world? Regardless I'm going to give my stand on the issue that recently suspended my top athlete. As with most phy ed. teachers these days, I'm also the assistant coach of the high school football, and basketball team. Although I'm a first year coach I already feel the fire and passion in the belly to win. (Bonuses are nice for winning the championship).
I'm sure you all heard about the recent scandals on Myspace and the effect it's had on our school and the people that have attended it in the past. As a coach, it really hurts to see any of my players or students get in trouble and have to struggle through a tough ordeal like this. Being a young teacher as myself, however, I also had my own Myspace page when I was in college. I deleted it when I made my transition into becoming a teacher, thinking somebody might look at it. I wish the students would've realized the administration had the power to look at these pages before they posted pictures of things they shouldn't have been doing. On the other hand, I don't believe that the school has the right to punish the students. I think it violates their right to privacy. Especially since people have the ability to post pictures of others against their own will, it's not fair to the victim. I believe there should be some sort of punishment if you get caught in the act, or post pictures of yourself doing the wrong acts. But, if someone else posts pictures of you as blackmail, it should be forgiven. I also think that sometimes people act like their doing something in a picture so for the sake of a photo, and people assume they were actually doing the wrong act. Either way it's killing my chances at a championship, so we need to figure out something as a group.

John Braewood-school nurse

Hello everybody, how are you doing? Hope everybody is in great health. Let's break down this whole privacy Business at Grand Heights High School. Well, lets figure out the logistics and morality of this situation. As school nurse, it is obvious to see that teenagers these days are engaging in drugs and alcohol. These things can be very unsafe, however, it is up to the parents of these children, not the teacher's or administration of the school, to discipline these kids and teach them not to drink or do drugs. It is logical for these teenagers parents to intervene and conduct good, responsible behavior from their children. Don't get me wrong, I was a teenager once, I partied, but it should be the parents who should keep the kids safe and not the school keeping kids safe outside of school. That's why I very much so disagree with the administration from schools looking at pictures of students engaging in illegal actions over the internet. The administration of a school shouldn't be allowed the right to interfere with a student's private life. It shouldn't happen for two separate reasons: One of the reasons is that teenagers shouldn't have to bear the burden of administration breathing down their neck during school and then have their parent's and administration breathing down their neck during their private life. The second reason is because administration looking at pictures of teenagers on the internet violates the 4th amendment which is the right to privacy. School administration should have to have a warrant to look at pictures of students on the internet, which I am sure none of them have. So, in the end, it's healthy for children to have a normal private life away from school administration.

Nigel Klaus

Hello everyone its your lovable German Nigel Klaus. If you don't know, and I'm sure you don't I am a member of the custodial team here at Grand Heights. Now in my time at this school there has been some weird conflicts but this "myspace" one tops them all. As bad as picking up after these kids is I'm starting to think that teaching them must be even harder. First time I will ever admit teaching is hard. The reason I say that is that these kids seem to be dumber than a sack of potatoes. I see people arguing on here that the school should not punish these kids for whatever they've done because it wasn't on school grounds. Good riddance, I think the kids should be punished more. Listen, if the school comes across these photos they have to do something. They can't just say oh this lovely student is shown here with a 12 foot beer bong, not our problem it wasn't in Mr. Peterson's government class. I'm also surprised with the arguments that the school is snooping online to find incriminating photos of their students. I guarantee the school was given the photos, I'd be surprised if any of the teachers knew how to work a "myspace", I have 4 myself but that's not the point. I guess my argument falls under the Oregonian's views posted in this story. I agree with this story because it just makes common sense. If your throwing an illegal party with booze and alcohol, why show it to the public? Show it to your close friends who won't tell, don't post pictures on a public website. No matter how you make your site "private", it will not block your pictures from anyone who is determined to see them. Well, argue against me if you like, but I have to warm you I am always right.

TY LONGBY

Hello All!

My name is Ty Longby most of you should know me as the one time jock now a teacher. It is a shame that the school had to get involved in the lives of the students while not at school. It is our (I say our because I am part of the staff) reponsibility to keep the kids safe at school. When something is brought to our attention outside of school, we must handle it. Kids in High School know what is illegal and what is not illegal. I know that when I was at school, we all knew how to get around the law. We would sneak things places that shouldn't be there. Since I was the coolest kid at my high school I always knew where the spot was.

I think this is absurd. The recent MYSPACE bust at our school. Kids are so stupid these days. Everyone uses the the internet. School is even becoming the internet. Students no longer have to show up at school to be called going to school. It is crazy the way the internet has changed the way we live our lives day to day. We are in a culture of speed. When we want to know something we will find out with the click of the send button in our email. But anyways back to the MYSPACE scandal. The Students are idiots. They know that putting things on the internet could end up in the wrong hands. First off why would they be doing illegal things, secondly why would they piost them they can get in trouble. Students taht get caught doing illegal things will be punished. No matter how it is shown they were doing it. If people are going to do those things and make it public they will get in trouble. The best way to not get caught is to not do it.

Students need to realize that we are trying to make them better people in the future. Doing harmful things to the body at a young age will only make it worse. So if it means getting them into trouble now, and that will save their lives then we will do what we have to. Kids should thank us when they get into trouble, because hopefully it was a lesson learned and will never do anything like that again.

Mr. Man

Hello. I am Mr. Man and I am the principal of Grand Heights High School. The Gorillas have kept a wonderful reputation and I would hate to ruin it because of students’ bad behavior. I believe that School Officials should have the right to intervene in cases where private information about peers is published in a public, online forum. School officials have a moral and legal duty to preserve the safety and wellbeing of all students. It should be as easy as 123: Students should realize that they have no privacy when they put information online. Once there, they are often accessible by anyone from administrators to parents to police. When Charlie chose to post information on the internet he dug his own grave. The improper activity of underage drinking is not only harmful, but illegal. The Administration as well as myself are looking out for the safety and future of our students here at Grand Heights. Students have the right to privacy, however students give their own rights up when a picture is online. If we have reason to believe that there is harmful activity, we have the right to search any locker here on school property.

If the police pull a person over and finds an illegal substance present then that person receives consequences. School is the same way. Drugs and alcohol are illegal for high school students. No if ands or buts about it. If students are caught in the act they should be punished.

This internet incident occurred recently at Eden Prairie High School. Students were caught in pictures on facebook with alcohol in their hands. Administrators have reprimanded more than 100 students and suspended some from sports and other extracurricular activities. I agree with the administration that they made the correct decision in punishing the students. This also occurred at Woodbury High School. I have not completely come to any decisions about what I will do about this Punk Rocky MySpace page, but there will be consequences.

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.

Eric Kell

Hey everyone I am Eric Kell. Here at Grand Heights I am the Varsity coach for the football team. I have had to deal with many negative things going on with team this year. I am outraged at the things that have been going on in our school this past year. Young teens posting pictures of naked girls on My space and my student athletes being caught drinking. its terrible, at the beginning of the season every student must sign a waver stating that they will stay "clean" throughout the season, To find out that my best player is one of them out there partying it makes me sad. To know that they have no respect for themselves or their teammates, let alone me for putting my trust in them. I want the students to be safe and if that means interfering with there extracurricular activities then so be it. This is the prime stage in these kids life when there brain is developing the most they don't need to be drinking partying and posting it online. It is there own fault for doing it they should be punished but after the punishment they should be helped kids experiencing with drinking and smoking can always lead to much worse things. I will always be here for my student like a father they need to be safe and have a safe fun environment to grow up in. I have lost my trust in my players they need be set on the right track and I know there is many people out there that are willing to help them myself included. Just because you don't get caught while your playing or on the team down the road it can hurt your chances with getting a job along with many other things. Our students are very embarrassed at what happened to them and their co-students but with help things will soon be back to normal. With the privacy issue I feel that if you don't want to get caught just don't experience with it and you will be fine our staff here only care about the kids and there well being that's why this was done for there own good.