AOL.com reports today that two high school sophomores in Indiana have sued their school for punishing them for “posting sexually suggestive photos on MySpace during their summer vacation.”  The ACLU (no surprise here) is representing the girls and argues that the school violated the girls’ free speech rights when it banned them from extracurricular activities for a joke that didn’t involve the school.”  

The controversy has experts on both sides arguing about the role of schools in this era of online social networking.  Some say schools should play “a role in monitoring students’ behavior,”  but others say schools should mind their own business unless the students’ off campus actions are disruptive on campus.   One complicating factor is what young people themselves think about their online lives.  “From the standpoint of young people, there’s no real distinction between online life and offline life,” said John Palfrey, a Harvard University law professor and codirector of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. “It’s just life.”

But, for schools the problem seems be the nexus or link back to on-campus consequences.  Erik Weber, an attorney for the school said the school “was enforcing the northeast Indiana school’s athletic code, which allows the principal to bar from school activities any student athlete whose behavior in or out of school “creates a disruptive influence on the discipline, good order, moral or educational environment at [the school].”  Apparently photos of the offending students were shared on campus.  The courts have upheld similar policies, but some experts believe that “the issue could come to a head as advances in technology bring more out-of-school behavior issues to light.”

Meanwhile, the students who posted the pictures of themselves in lingerie are probably wondering what went wrong with the privacy controls they had set “so only those designated as friends could view them.”  Meanwhile Professor Palfrey says, “’Privacy on social networking sites is an illusion, even if strict privacy controls are set.’” Wait, BoardBuzzz is scratching its little bee head.  You mean privacy settings do really provide, er, privacy?  Say what? BoardBuzz thinks it’s high time someone started telling our youngsters that social networking is more than just a toy.  Yeah, it’s fun.  Yeah, it helps us connect. But, now we can connect with many more people at once.  And, unlike speaking a word, when you speak on social networking sites, it’s in writing!