It is widely accepted that the purpose of school is to educate students and prepare them for life as adults. Whether the school is public or private, elementary, middle or high, big or small, all share the same common goal of education. To maximize this education, students should be protected on campus and feel safe in their learning environment, but the power of the administration needs to end there. Schools should not have the right to investigate student’s personal life and examine their off campus activities. There are expectations when activities affect other’s ability to learn or threaten the safety of students, but schools should generally remain in the lane of education. 

In most of the United States, including Florida, the general guidelines for disciplining students follow this idea of drawing a line between on and off campus jurisdiction, with a few specified instances where the school would have power outside school. Behavior and conflicts that occur or begin on campus and continue off, such as a planned fight in a public place after school or repeated bullying, can be disciplined by the school administration because of their on-campus roots and endangerment of other students. Threats made off campus to incite violence or bring a weapon are also school jurisdiction because of their clear connection to danger and interruption of the learning environment. Because they directly interrupt with normal proceedings, schools can and should discipline students who interfere with their policies. 

Tangible, real life events and incidents have been an issue for decades, and schools have widely established rules for dealing with them. In current times, though, there is an entirely different beast: social media. The question of if schools should monitor students and their activity online is rapidly becoming more prevalent. 

Of course, the rules and guidelines for students can change from state to state, and private schools often have much more freedom and power with their decisions. No matter what the law says, however, schools and administrators should respect a student’s right to privacy. Schools should step in when issues surrounding violence or bullying arise, but they have no right to punish an off-campus student for simply using explicit language or expressing their dislike of a school policy. The ruling on a court case in Pennsylvania in 2017 agreed with this sentiment. A freshman who didn’t make the cheerleading team sent a Snapchat message to friends holding up a middle finger and explicitly expressing her anger and dislike with the school and team. She was suspended, but then sued the school and won her case, with the court agreeing that the school has no right to punish her for her off campus speech. 

The things that students are saying on social media are nothing new. Students have been using the same language and having the same conversations regarding school for years; the new age of social media only makes it more permanent and easier for others to see. If a student posts something on a public platform, they should be prepared for anyone to see it, including their school, but they shouldn’t be punished for their off-campus speech unless it causes a significant issue and disrupts education. There have been issues where students create fake profiles of principals and teachers, and while this is incorrect and indisputably rude, it is not necessarily for school jurisdiction to handle. Unless it is creating major problems in the classroom, the student should not have their education interrupted because of their off-campus actions. The affected individual could pursue defamation charges away from the school’s protection, but the school itself should not expel, suspend or punish a student for social media posts not inciting violence or harming another student. 

As the lines of what schools can and cannot punish students for become increasingly blurred, it is important to remember the true purpose of school: education. Providing a safe and productive learning environment should be of utmost concern, and any student who directly threatens that safety should be punished accordingly. Schools are also not the only ruling authorities. If a student’s actions are illegal, then authorities will step in, rather than the school administration. Many students also have personal authority figures who will offer chastisement after wrong actions. In order to help avoid conflict, students should also be committed to preserving the learning environment in their schools, if not for themselves, then for their classmates. Education is important for everyone, and with the proper lessons and skills, many issues can be avoided before they ever occur. If a specific issue is not inciting violence or harmful actions, however, then the school should not be involved in the punishishment of a student.