How should Schools Handle Facebook?

       One of the most popular social networking sites out there, as well all know is facebook. Everyone has it, whether it be for bullying, updating their status', finding old college buddies, or just being IN with the crowd. The question is, why is school getting involved and making fake accounts to check up on kids on facebook? How far can the schools go?  What constitutes their right to go into students personal lives? All of these questions have come into play with facebook in schools and with students.
      There have been a lot of problems with facebook in schools. Parents would call schools telling them that their child is being bullied on facebook. They are telling the schools to do something about it. When do schools step in and say that is a parent responsibility?  (http://schooleducator.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/facebook-follies-schools-need-to-help-parents-and-students/)
These things are happening outside of schools and I do not think that the school has the right to punish a child for something that has nothing to do with them. Parents think that schools should punish other children for this and I don't think that is right. I also know from experience that schools actually HIRE someone to make fake facebook accounts to try and find students drinking and doing things that they are not suppose to be doing. When did schools go from educating our students and helping them learn turn into controlling their lives even outside of school? Yes, I understand that high school students should not be drinking, especially athletes, but that does not give you the right to go out and spy out on them. I really wonder about how some schools think now-a-days.
       Another question that comes into play is teachers having facebooks. Do schools have the right to control those? I know teachers that actually add their students when they have a facebook. Is that wrong because they do that? I don't ever see teachers getting into trouble with having a facebook, or schools trying to

control their lives outside of school, especially if they have pictures of them drinking on it. That is not school appropriate, especially if you are friends with your students. There are so many holes in the education system with the problem of facebook.
      Now there is the other spectrum of facebook. When students know that teachers, administrators, and other people can see your facebook, why would you put pictures up of you breaking laws, drinking, or acting completely idiotic? Some might say that they are just dumb teenagers who are trying to act cool, but who knows. No one can even think of what a teenager is thinking at the time. They don't even think that their school is going to try and look them up on their facebook to try and get them into trouble. The people that your suppose to trust the most, and the place you are suppose to feel the safest is the place that is trying to bring you down. Kids think that blocking their facebook from outsiders is going to help them not get into trouble, but then don't realize that these people that the school hires are professionals and can hack into that too. They also don't think about their future and realize that future employers can be looking at that page too and decide not to hire you because of what is portrayed on your facebook. There are a lot of things to think about with these so called harmless, fun, enjoyable networking sites. 

There have been a lot of "problems" with this networking site, more problems than I can talk about here. There are still no answers to all of these problems, and I don't know if there will ever be. There are just some things that I think need to be handled by parents, and they need to take their responsibility. If it is getting that bad, delete your child's facebook.

Photos By:
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/social-media-insights-from-the-big-lebowski (ethan Block)
and
http://gadishamia.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/facebook-market-segmentation-and-a-discussion-mark-zuckerberg-never-had/attachment/47/