Social media sites, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Myspace, Instagram, are always evolving to meet the expectations of the ever-changing trends of the technology-crazed society.

More and more people are downloading instant apps to their mobile devices to connect with the world instantly. Most of these social media sites have popped up within the last five to ten years, and the sites are constantly adding new gizmos to enhance the user experience.  As a result of more and more annexations to social media-based networking, there are always more nifty ways to access and transmit information.

However, like all technology, there are always positives and negatives to a new advancement.

“There is a whole new kind of sense that it’s different now,” Dr. J said.  “I think with our Student Owned Technology Device policy on board now, it’s a different world at the High School. You never had students carrying cell phones out openly.  I also think the world in large has changed.  Social media is integrated into day-to-day operations for many, many people.”

The social media world really has morphed; older people are starting to get involved.  The creation of LinkedIn, a social media site designed for adults, allows users to post their professional resumes instantly and connect with colleagues to build up their network.

However, contrary to this positive social media site, a lot of negative impacts have emerged from some other sites.

With the new Student Owned Technology Device (SOTD) policy put in place at the High School, students have the power to post images and messages with the swipe of a finger.  However, when taking or posting photos to social media sites of school or during school hours, students don’t always think about the repercussions.

Dr. J emphasized that the administrators have over-and-over again told students to take these photos down before anything becomes of this.  However, Dr. J stressed that he runs on a tight schedule, and his agenda does not include looking for these photos and tracking people down.

“My biggest concern lately is that I’ve seen students taking photos and videos in the school and on school property,” Dr. J said.  “You are not allowed to do that without permission. We have had students taking pictures of employees.  Those are all out-of-school suspendable items (level three violations).  I don’t really think students understand that.  We have added many measures to try to communicate this to the students.”

Technology changes on a daily basis.  Recently, a new app has transpired called Vine, which allows users to post short five second clips of videos to Twitter.  Scrolling through Twitter feeds, anyone can see that some of these videos are taken during school hours.  Dr. J expressed that these need to be deleted immediately to avoid any issues in the future.

In fact, all administrators, faculty members, and teachers are busy as the school year is wrapping up and aren’t burrowing these sites to probe out images of the school, but rather they are keeping a close eye to see if any suspicious activity is taking place.

Dr. J said: “I would not say we have an agenda to crackdown on social media, but we do have a responsibility to address the situations when we find out about them.  Once again, when we see something that is inappropriate, we are compelled to do our job.”

Additionally, Dr. J highlighted that there has to be a nexus or connection between what happens outside the classroom and inside the classroom.  If something involved with social media content becomes a disruption within the classroom environment, even though it occurred after school hours, then it is the responsibility of the principals to address and rectify the issue.  Bethel Park High School has always been running its operations like this; there is just more of an emphasis due to the infusion of mobile devices during school hours as per the SOTD policy.

There is no way to regulate the social media content through school but rather there’s a way to address any issues that have emerged.  Freedom of speech is evidently given, but non-school related issues sometimes carry into the school zone, which means repercussions could be spiraling towards an individual.  A solution to all of this social media turmoil is to not post on any social media site during school hours, as it is prohibited, and not to get in any mischief in general on these sites.