“You’re suspended.”

“For what?”

“For drinking under the age limit.”

“How did you find that out?”

“Facebook.”

The above situation never happened to me personally, but it certainly did happen to seniors I went to high school with, and the news spread quickly through the school, so even students who didn’t know the suspended students knew of the story.

This situation certainly brings up an important question:

Was it right for the high school officials to suspend those students based on a photo found on a social media platform?

I believe that it is unfair for high school officials or college admission committees to take it upon themselves to investigate further on an individual without prior permission because online investigations might lead to unfair or inconsistent treatment.

Most social media platforms that are in use are being used for personal reasons. If an individual posts something unflattering on their personal site, I do not think it’s any official's job to investigate it. If it’s a post not directed to the school or college in any way, then is there really a justifiable reason to refuse this individual?

Maybe I’m an optimist, but I think everybody deserves a chance to prove who they are in person, not through a social media platform, and more so, not through technology. If that said individual does no harm to the school or college and maintains good grades, then why should it matter how this individual expresses him/herself outside those domains?

As a more experienced woman, I do think individuals should be monitoring the content that they post; however, they shouldn’t be held responsible if admission committees find something that they do not agree with. Most of the social media sites used today by the teen community are used for nothing more than social interactions. They are using them to blow off steam, stay connected to others, and state how they feel.

I can understand more why employers, over admission committees, might search a potential candidate because they are joining a professional community; usually, employers are looking for mature, sophisticated candidates. So, I can understand that a candidate’s chances could be hurt if the candidate makes a negative comment on their social media account.

New college students, however, are usually not even 20 yet and are fresh out of high school. They are more likely to make immature remarks without thinking about the consequences. So, at that stage in their life, I don’t think college admission committees should be judging them too harshly.

If anything, colleges should be teaching students the effects of posting harmful or jeopardizing content on social media platforms, and the consequences that might come from that. Isn’t that what college is for? To learn. So why not teach students how to become more conscious individuals instead of rejecting them based on prejudgments an admission committee member made based off an unreliable source, and not even inform that individual why he/she got rejected?

Maybe if college admissions committees explained to the individual why he/she is getting rejected, he/she will learn from their mistakes, saving them from another rejection letter.