Students and Social Media – Can Schools Discipline Students for Off-Campus Speech?

With an estimated 3.96 billion social media users worldwide, it is no surprise to learn that most students have at least one social media account. Whether it is Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or TikTok, people of all ages, from your 85 year-old grandmother to your 7 year-old nephew, can be found sharing their life somewhere on a social media platform (and possibly, your life too!). In 2021, it appears acceptable to share all types of information, from the tiniest of details, such as what you ate for lunch or your newest dance moves, to more controversial items, such as political and religious beliefs. People share the details of their everyday lives with friends, family, and strangers. For many social media users, their first inclination is to “post” about any experience they have just encountered – the good, the bad, and the ugly, with their closest “friends.” In a world where posting or snapping about any thought instantaneously occurs, when is sharing an opinion or criticism too much, and who decides when enough is enough? This is the question the U.S. Supreme Court recently reviewed in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. By and Through Levy (2021) _ _ _ U.S. _…
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