Can a office worker at my sons school have done this legally?

Question

Today my son said that the assistant principals wife made him give her his password to his myspace page cause she claimed that someone came in the office & said that my son had a hit list on his myspace page. My son is the soloist in the band & this boy that is younger than him is really upset that my son got the soloist part & not him. We believe that this boy is the one causing trouble. Can they have legally made my son give them his personal password? I have my sons password & I viewed his page daily & there is nothing threatning or obsene on it. What can I do about the school doing this ?

My son is a minor & no he did not access myspace at school.

Yes the assistant principals wife is an employee.

They never contacted me before they talked to him. I found out yesterday that someone that goes to school with him used his identity to create this so called hitlist. I told the school that I demand for them to publicly clear his name & they said they couldnt do it that they dont want the schools name drug through the mud. But yet they want my sons name drug through. So I am getting the FBI to investigate who used his identity to create this list & I am pressing charges.

TO SHEENY _ DONT YOU THINK I SHOULD FIGHT FOR MY SON CONSIDERING MY SON IS A MINOR & THIS ACCUSATION AGaINST HIM IS QUITE SERIOUS !!!!!

Answer 1

That is absolutely not okay. They should have contacted you. Your poor son. That makes me so angry.. please talk to your son and let him know what boundaries he should uphold when in that position again. "That is grown folks business!!!" A quote from a very wise teacher I personally know. Next time you could tell your son to say, " with all due respect, if you want that information, please contact my parent or guardian" As far as taking action, I think the school board is the first step. I would be interested in a follow up on that.

Answer 2

There are a few things that need to be considered in a case like this...
How was the accusing child able to see this so called "hit list" without a password in the first place?
Why couldn't they have had him pull up the page instead?
His myspace page has nothing to do with the school.

On the other hand, the school should now be well aware of who the troublemaker is.
The school could have called the police, children's services etc. to deal with this where it may have been a much bigger deal.

You can certainly call the police or school board to find out the laws and/or school policies on situations such as these.
I have had many problems, myself with schools and my children. My mother is actually a teacher, so she advises me on how to deal with them. Most often, her advice would be to write an official complaint to the school principal. cc it to the school board and ask for a copy to be inserted into your son's school file.(the principal won't like it when they see the cc at the top, knowing you've gone over their head and sent the same letter to the superintendant)This is a good course of action when you have problems with teachers, too.

Answer 3

Your son does not have to provide the password to the principal. It is not a school site, it is not school property. That does not mean that they can't ask.

Frankly, there is absolutely no REASON to give them the password. Nothing good can possibly come out of it. Either there will be something on it that can result in him getting into "official" trouble (not a good thing), or they will think he got tipped off and removed it. So why even bother giving them the password?

Now, the next question is -- what to do about it.

Nothing -- for this time.

For next time, you need to make sure your son knows enough to call you, that you can be trusted. This is important. Because only by discussing this with you (trying to keep lawyers out) can a reasoned decision be made about whether to provide information in an adversarial setting (by definition, an assistant principal's office IS an adversarial setting).

So, if anything like this happens again, his answer is: I do not feel comfortable providing that, or any other information to you until I have spoken with my parents. Then, you go to the office and straighten it out.

Answer 4

Despite how disgusting everyone thinks this is, I think the school can legally do it. To ensure the safety of children or to enforce school rules, school officials are given a lot more leeway in terms of searches than police are given to your everyday joe walking down the street.

There's a Supreme Court case in which a high school girl sued because school officials searched through her purse and belongings without her permission in search of cigarettes when they had no real probable cause. The Court said this was all kosher, given the age of the students and the need to enforce school rules. While a purse is different from a myspace account, it is still personal property that a school official can search or look out despite the protests of the student.

The only issue on your side here is whether or not the employee's WIFE was entitled to do this. Was she on the school payroll or acting as an agent for the school at all? I don't understand that aspect of your question exactly, but for the most part it appears that they can do it.

I know it sucks, but hey, it's the law.

Answer 5

Firstly, the assistant principle's wife is no more a school official than the janitor's third cousin once removed.

Even if she was, the school can no more legally make your son give them his password to a private non-school related site than they can legally make him give them your personal credit card number or bank account information.

I would be furious and would at minimum demand a formal apology and would consider legal action against the assistant principle's wife.

Secondly, you don't have to have someones Myspace password to see what is on their page. The whole idea behind forums like Myspace is that you can post things for others to see. All you need to know is their user name.

Answer 6

I'm pretty sure he didn't have to give out the password. Although perhaps there is more to the story. Was he doing myspace at the school? Was his page private so it can't be accessed except by people on his list? Some of these questions could be important if you pursue this further. Try to find out everything from both sides.

Answer 7

I dont think that this was legal, on the other hand, your child is under the age of 18 and cannot legal sign a contract (agree with myspace) to be responsible for the content on the website. I would start by finding out what the assistant principal did. Get the facts before you start any legal conflicts.

Answer 8

The Assistant Principles wife (?) was out of line. I would contact the Principle for a meeting to discuss this. If they feel a child is up to something of this nature, the police should have been called. I would read the schools manual regarding these types of issues. While they have the right to search on school premises, I don't believe they have the right to search private information such as myspace accounts. That was an invasion of privacy, and you could sue her.

Answer 9

That's illegal, and it's also an invasion of privacy. I can see you being able to do that, saying your son is a minor, however, the school crosses the line. Contact a lawyer immediaetly honey and sue they're pants off. I'd also call my local news channel and let them broadcast what this school did! I'd blow them straight out of the water, and I'd sue the board of eduation right along with it. Many lawyers get paid when you do, and what they take, it's worth it, they're workign for you, remember? I'd be very shitty if my school pulled a trick on my child!!! Let me know how it goes, I wish you a lot of luck!! That's harassment, embarrasement, and invasion of privacy!! Probably a lot more than that too-talk to a lawyer. Just curious, what state does your child attend school? I live in Ohio and our schools suck, they even take elementary aged school children outside in 15-20 degree temperatures in the winter months instead of indoor recess!!! these schools don't care about the well being of our children nowadays!

Answer 10

You should thank the school for proving your sons innocence. They do have the right to ask your son but he also has the right to deny it but why? If he is innocent then he has nothing to be concerned about. He is a good boy for not arguing with principal over a very serious aligation.

So how did they know he even had a MYSPACE account????
Don't lie for your son.