Bud the Teacher

        I’ve been thinking about what a school district policy on blogs would look like — and what I might want to ensure does not end up in the policy.  One or two thoughts on this follow.
        One thing that I think is essential with students and blogging is that the students have an open forum for conversation and publishing their work.  The meat of blogging is the ability to express.  I do not think that we can offer blogging and then put a tight leash on what students can and cannot say.  Seems to me that blogs are more like student publications than they are school district websites.  But, if the school district owns the "press," then can the student still have those freedoms?
        The answer is, I think, that yes, they can have those freedoms, so long as the blogs are considered forums and not websites.  Such freedom to express and speak and define some maybe even most) of their content on a blog is essential. 
        But — that does not mean that a student blog can become a place where a kid can trash another kid, or make racially offensive comments, or threaten violence.  Either someone in the district needs to have the ability to delete blatantly offensive posts or all posts might need a place to filter through before getting published.  However, either idea strikes me as censorship.  There must be a third or a fourth option that I haven’t yet figured out.  There must be a way to balance the  rights of students and the responsibilities of the school district in such a way that everyone wins and the students don’t feel like they are only playing at publishing.   Maybe one way to do this is by allowing — or even downright assisting — students in the creation of personal blogs outside of the sphere of the school.  These personal blogs can be used for venting or other types of writing that could get tricky in school.  Teaching students when to talk/write one way and when to talk/write another is an important task — maybe multiple blogs is part of the answer. 
        On top of my concerns about "appropriateness" (I really, really hate that term, by the way — it seems an artificial way of approaching student expression), I worry, too, about student safety.  I think, though, that a little time spent in a classroom on how to protect yourself online can minimize this concern.   
        I am currently searching the web for school districts using blogs and any policy language that exists to regulate such activity.  If you know of any policies, or have any suggestions, feel free to drop me a line.