As technology significantly progresses each year, so do the ways of communicating and sharing, thus creating a question of whether schools should have any say in what takes place on students’ home screens. With social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc., it has become much harder to monitor or even control a young adult’s actions. People posting on these sites are exercising their freedom of speech; however, what happens when they go too far? There are legal dangers involved and lines that should not be crossed. The question is: Who draws the lines?

Earlier this year, the death of a 14-year-old Hannah Smith, put the spotlight back on the issue of young people’s safety online. Smith took her own life “after apparently enduring months of online bullying,” writes Rebecca Ratcliffe, reporter for Guardian.com. Some state that what goes on at home should be the problem of a parent or a guardian, but others, like Nancy Willard from EducationWorld.com, point out: “Students’ wrong use of social media might negatively impact their wellbeing and the quality of the school environment; therefore, the schools must be concerned about off campus Internet activities.” In fact, according to an October, 29, 2013 New York Times article, there are now companies, such as Geo, that schools can hire to track students’ use of social media.

Now, there is a third party emerging that calls for a response between ignoring and stalking. Will Richardson wrote in his February 2011 Educational Leadership article, “At the end of the day, high school graduates need a clear sense of both the potentials and the pitfalls of interacting online. They should be able to create their own connections in safe, effective, and ethical ways. For schools, this means far more than just doing an information literacy unit. Rather, we must envision a K–12 curriculum that seamlessly integrates these new skills and literacies in age-appropriate ways and gradually moves students into more public interactions online. Not doing so would be akin to handing teenagers the keys to the car without having taught them to drive.”

This kind of integration will become a part of Hawthorne High School curriculum as well. Dario Sforza, vice principal at HHS, states, “We’re putting technology into the hands of our students and it’s a wonderful, productive thing, but when used irresponsibly it can backfire. Now what we are trying to do is educate students on how to use it the right way.” Through a new program called Digital Citizenship, freshmen will be learning about cyberbulling and what to do if they are involved in a difficult situation. Sophomores will find out about copyright and fair use laws, which will address plagiarism, piracy etc. Juniors will be informed about their personal digital footprint and reputation, and about how online sharing can impact their future. Lastly, seniors will take a lesson about privacy, safety and security in order to understand how to manage online information. These lessons will be taught by the Library Media Center specialist, Theresa DiGeronimo, who states, “I think that we have an entire generation with easy access to the Internet who have never learned how to be smart, respectful and safe with it. Hawthorne High School is now stepping in to provide these lessons.”