At What Point is a School's Authority Limited?

By Caitlin McCoy

The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided that two cases should be ruled again this time, by the full court. The cases dealt with a similar scenario: a student used an off-campus computer to make a fake MySpace as their principal. The principal was portrayed as disrespectful and immoral as he was described as a person to use drugs and engage in other disdainful behavior. The two cases are Layshock v. Hermitage School District, this case involving a high school student, and J.S. v Blue Mountain School District, involving a student in middle school.
The conflict aroused when the decision-making of these cases contradicted each other. The decision concerning Layshock stated that the student has the right to post this material because it was not on the school campus. Their opinion in this case is that the power of the school authority cannot cross its bounds. However, the case involving J.S. was ruled differently. In this case, the decision was that the school has the authority to discipline students for such actions.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represented the students in both cases and Sarah Rose, a staff attorney for ACLU has stated that both cases will be looked at afresh by the entire 3rd court. Her hope is that the decision will be in favor of the students.
Personally, I wish this type of controversy did not exist. No matter if the rights of the students who posted this material are protected or not, they should have enough respect for themselves and those in charge to not make a MySpace mocking their principals. They should be ashamed for doing this, but unfortunately it happened and must be dealt with. I can see both sides of the matter, school authority should not feel in control of the matter because it was off-campus, but students should not express such disrespect. It is a disappointing controversy and it will be interesting to see how it is ruled.