Facebook

Dear Parents, Guardians and Adult Friends of our Students,

Recent news reports and incidents throughout North America (including Forster) have driven home the great promise of Facebook as well as many dangers.

Without getting into specifics, or trying to sound alarmist, please talk to your children about their Public on-line face!

We all should know that companies search the web for people who apply to them for jobs. The excuse of "youthful indiscretions" does not hold any weight with companies that are worried about their own reputations. Pictures at parties, holding beer bottles or bottles of vodka don't fit well with the images of IBM, or McDonalds. Please have them look at their profile pictures, and any comments that everyone can read. If they wouldn't be happy having you read them, or their grandparents, they should probably think about removing them.

Also, the harsh reality is that as soon as you press "send" or publish a comment on facebook, you have lost all control over where it goes and who ends up reading it. It becomes a public record. Every Principal I know has had to deal with this.

Here's another reality - every Principal I know has had to suspend students for what they've written on Facebook. The excuses, "I was only joking," "I didn't mean to scare anyone," and "I didn't think they'd believe me," have to mean very little to us, and sometimes even less to the police.

Please, Please, Please - Talk to your children about this, no matter what grade they are in, or how old they are. Your help and advice will go a long way to making a much better situation for your children at school and in the community.

Thank you

Dave