January 29, 2007
College Coaches Keep Tabs on Facebook
The rise of Facebook has given athletics directors plenty of sleepless -- and scandal-plagued -- nights, and it's understandable that a college would want to keep photos of, say, team hazing rituals off the Web. But is there an unobjectionable way to accomplish that goal?
Kicking athletes off Facebook, as Kent State University briefly tried doing (The Chronicle, June 23), seems awfully harsh. Forcing them to restrict their profiles to certain friends is more reasonable. But in the eyes of some students, such a restriction contradicts the entire point of the site.
So some colleges are asking coaches to take on the role of Big Brother. At George Washington University, for example, many coaches have signed up for Facebook, and they routinely scan the social network to make sure team members are not posting anything untoward. When a member of the university's golf team posted pictures that showed him drinking alcohol, the squad's coach saw the photos and asked the student to take them offline, reports The GW Hatchet.
One athlete told The Hatchet that he would rather his coach monitor his Facebook profile than have that task fall to the university's administrators. But that raises a question: Is it fair for athletics departments to patrol athletes' Facebook profiles? Clearly, athletics directors want to protect the reputations of their institutions. But if the sponsor of a college marching band or debate society tried to restrict its members' Facebook posts, there might be a public outcry. --Brock Read
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If a university wants to protect is reputation I suggest (1) they hire a head coach with high integrity rather than one who is indulgent and recruits girfted but irresponsible athletes and (2) the Head Coach must be responsible for recruiting and not send their graduate assistants to watch athletes they are considering for a $30,000 per year scholarship.
— Dr. Question Jan 29, 07:25 PM #
If not than Darwin will have to work his magic on everyone concerned.
— Dr. Question Jan 29, 07:26 PM #
Where are the parents in all of this? Why aren’t they educating their kids on what is acceptable and what isn’t for internet exposure? Or maybe they have never been educated themselves on what is acceptable and what isn’t, so they leave that to those of in the educational system to do it for them!
— Cindy Jan 30, 08:25 AM #
I think it is appropriate for a university to monitor the online social networking sites of students who have high profile positions on campus. In some ways, the online movement has taken us back to an era of semi “en loco parentis,” mainly because students don’t understand the ramifications of what they post, regardless of how many restrictions you put on them.
— Paul Jan 30, 09:11 AM #
I think it would make sense for institutions to hire a full time facebook/myspace administrator to constantly look through all students’ profiles. I think a lot of underage drinking & risky sexual activity could be curbed that way. When something is detected they could initiate an email conversation with the student. Then offer counseling, etc. If there is no response they could call, send letters, and potentially contact their parent. All this personal sharing is potentially a great opportunity to help students have safer college careers. Those 4 years can be rough.
— Concerned Ex-Student Jan 30, 10:08 AM #
As a survivor of many stupid decisions, I must ask what about the role of personal responsibility. Doing something dumb, paying for it, and recovering is a useful process for life skills.
— Marty Jan 30, 10:50 AM #
Concerned ex-student: Are you for real? What about privacy and living our own lives. Isn’t college supposed to be a time for independent living and education on how to make decisions on your own? I hope you were being facetious than there suggesting there be a paid ‘big brother.’
— David Jan 30, 05:06 PM #
Concerned ex-student – there are education rights and privacy laws that prevent universities and colleges from disclosing such kinds of information. It is called FERPA and peopel who violate could conceivably go to jail over that (or be fined or sued, etc).
So many of our students are led to believe that the internet is private. And it is for them on their own personal computers. But just becuase it is private on their computer doesn’t mean that what they put out there about themsleves is private. It is out there for all to see.
If former President Bill Clinton and current President George Bush would have had Facebook accounts when they were in school, neither of them would have been elected president of this country.
— Cindy Jan 31, 09:10 AM #
This isn’t all that shocking. Administrators have been looking at students’ livejournals and myspaces, not just their facebooks. Old friends from my old high school have actually had their applications to colleges rejected because the administrators actually went looking for their myspaces and didn’t like what they saw/read. It really isn’t that hard to make those sorts of things private or “friends only”.
— Laura Jan 31, 06:07 PM #