Blogs and School Discipline

Chicago Tribune reports today the school officials walk a thin line when it comes to blogs with questionable material. While two teachers were not disciplined over the contents of their blogs because there was no mention a specific school or names of students, three students from Taft High School of Chicago were disciplined over graphic descriptions from their blogs. While the Chicago incident is not a unique situation facing schools, it should be a wake-up call to school administrators that blogging responsibly should be addressed by education. I see this as no different from driver's education: We know that there will students that will drink and drive so we show the consequences of such action and hope that it will not happen. Irresponsible blogging can lead to serious consequences which students need to be aware. I applaud Taft High School in calling a forum with parents to discuss the issue:

Both legal precedent and district policy make it clear that both students
and staff can be disciplined for off-campus actions, including any "offensive
language" that affects "the safety, environment and learning" at a school, said district spokesman Mike Vaughn. The discipline code also prohibits students and staff from using a computer to "stalk, harass or otherwise intimidate others."