Social media is a link used to express the individual. Scrolling shows people each other’s personal autobiographies. There are few boundaries for what people will share. From dinner plates to weddings photos, people choose not to hold back.

“I use social media to express opinions, ideas, and meet new people,” junior Evan Monger said.

“It’s a way to connect and in this day and age it’s a way we communicate,” chemistry teacher Hannah Moore said.

The things that are shared on social media can be seen by not only fellow students, but also by faculty and staff.

“That’s my business – I broadcast it to people I choose because my accounts are on private,” junior Kellynn Guisti said.

“If I don’t want you to know it, I’m not going to post it,” algebra teacher Cathleen Cleveland said.

The argument for students online life being in administrators hands is not all black and white. There are benefits and downfalls for such a look into students’ online life.

“I think it could help, but I think it is such an intrusion it also hurts,” Guisti said.

Monger thinks that the school has no right to push itself on the students’ online and social lives. The only thing he believes can be taken away from staff looking into students’ social media is preventing fights and drama.

“I think there are draw backs and also positives. I think you can see what the good students are doing, but I also think sometimes the things that shouldn’t be seen tend to be seen,” Moore said.

There are blurred lines between private social life and school life.

“For staff it’s a little bit different, but for students I believe there’s a certain rapport you have to have in school but I think there will be a difference between your school life and social life,” Moore said.

“Students will talk about sports and other things that go on in the school which is a good thing, but then something bad will happen on social media and they bring it into the school and get arguing with each other over it,” Cleveland said.

“I’ve got friends in school that I see outside of school, and then I’ve got school life, and then I have my friends as my social life even on social media. It’s like a good connector, because I see my friends in and out of school,” Guisti said.

Guisti believes that school faculty should not seek to find problems amongst students, but take care of the problems if they are approached. Teachers and students agree that the staff does not need to know everything.

“The thing is that the internet is public knowledge. Anything you put on there is public knowledge. But I do think in a sense it is invading on your personal life if you don’t want people to see it. I think it is an intrusion. I think you should use privacy filters so people won’t see it,” Moore said.

Guisti expressed that she does not mind if the staff sees her social media and she does not want any discoveries to be exploited.

“It’s a little weird (to have teachers see posts). It’s okay, but I prefer they didn’t. But it’s not going to change anything,” Guisti said.