By Anna Wood ’18
Simply put, media is powerful. A single hashtag or posted message can influence people for months. We’ve seen trends such as store robberies and dangerous stunts. We absorb the posts we see online, oftentimes more than we think we do. As members of society, we should keep this in mind. Rachel Chen (VI) agrees. “On one hand, I understand that we are students and we do represent Pingry,” she said. “We’re supposed to be the best and the brightest–representing honor and integrity and citizenship.”
On the other hand, we are allowed to exercise our rights, including freedom of speech. While we are fortunate to have this liberty, consequences are inevitable. Ultimately, it is the individual’s decision to gauge whether or not their message will influence others in a positive manner.
Pingry, however, is a private day school — and one of the strongest in the country, at that. Resources, time, and energy shouldn’t always be spent dwelling on events that aren’t directly affiliated with the school. Actions displayed at athletic competitions, arts performances, and on campus activities reflect the values of the Pingry community; informal events between students do not mirror Pingry to as full of an extent. Private details of students’ personal lives should not be mixed with their academic endeavors, as long as those details don’t reflect their behavior on campus. Provided that Pingry students are honorable, dedicated, and respectful in their daily lives on campus, it is not up to the school to decide what students do in the privacy of their own homes.
The Honor Code states, “The members of the Pingry community should conduct themselves in a trustworthy manner that will further the best interests of the school, their class, and any teams or clubs to which they belong.” Pingry students who dutifully serve their athletic teams, clubs, and classes certainly follow this aspect of the Honor Code. Certain human values can be encouraged, but cannot be wholeheartedly enforced outside of the community.
Unfortunately, social media is melting the privacy that keeps home and school separate. Social media is the easiest form of communication, but it can be misinterpreted. A post not intended to harm others can most certainly do so if we aren’t careful. Content shared on social media can compromise safety and reputation, even when privately shared.
Some may argue that nearly every platform of social media allows the user to go “private,” disabling strangers from viewing his or her posts. Others may add that online expression changes relative to the platform of social media. Among the younger community especially, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit report the most use in retrieving news, whereas Instagram, Snapchat, and Youtube are used in a more casual manner (“News Across Social Media Platforms 2017”).
That being said, media users must still be cautious on their Snapchat accounts or their private Instagram profiles. Posts are not only viewed but also shared and discussed. In other words, private isn’t truly private. A post that sparks political controversy, no matter how concealed, will still emerge from the shadows and be spread to every corner imaginable.
Liberty lets us flourish in our own opinions and ways of life. But limitations are still present. We
must utilize the privilege of freedom with maturity values are destroyed over
social media, they are destroyed in the real world.