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LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- High school students are going to be held accountable for what they post on blogs and on social-networking Web sites such as MySpace.com.

The board of Community High School District 128 voted unanimously on Monday to require that all students participating in extracurricular activities sign a pledge agreeing that evidence of ''illegal or inappropriate'' behavior posted on the Internet could be grounds for disciplinary action.

There's lots of facets to this issue that are easy to rattle off:
- The rights (or lack thereof) with respect to minors in school
- The obligations (or again, lack thereof) of parents with regard to their children when they're not on school property
- and of course Freedom of Expression (taking into account laws regarding threatening or misrepresenting someone)

Still, it seems that the school has over stepped it's bounds by believing that everything kids post online is within their jurisdiction to judge and act upon. On the surface it seems that the school is trying to target athletes, and others who might post hazing or other impolite pictures and stories online that could damage the school's image. But the critical thing is the wording.

"illegal or inappropriate".

Illegal is one thing, and yes - that's fine for anyone, not just a school to monitor. But "inappropriate"? By whose judgement? Would the coy picture of a cheerleader posed on her site fit that definition? Would a fictional story about teen sex between characters set in the high school fit? What fits and what doesn't in a vague loophole like that is disturbing and I'm certain deliberate. True, if a student were really worried about the school reading and disapproving of their online efforts they could simply quit all extracurricular activities hosted at the school. It will be interesting to see if indeed there is a drop out rate, if any, resulting from the boards decision.

While many parents I'm sure welcome the school stepping in for them, some parents aren't so pleased about the intrusion into their realm of influence. I've seen and heard of parents who basically don't do their job and look to the school to do it for them for fear of their kids reprisals or simply because it takes effort. But it's one thing to come out and say "a student will not post any lurid or offensive pictures of themselves on school property or in a team uniform online" and very much another to say "we're watching everything you post and measuring against a secret limit".

It didn't help that the Associate Superintendent Prentiss Lea is a dolt and issued the following asinine statement:

''The concept that searching a blog site is an invasion of privacy is almost an oxymoron,'' he said. ''It is called the World Wide Web.''

Of course it's not an invasion of privacy you dolt, it's a question of students being reprimanded for posting ANYthing that might be misconstrued, and furthermore doing it on their own time, on their own computer, and possibly not even involving the school. It means that students have to choose what might be more important to them - self expression or being involved in school activities. It means that the student isn't just judged by their performance in school but by any online expression they might make.

Well Princess Lea, here's my message to you "Fucking grow up bitch. The web may not be what you want it to, but you haven't the resources or intelligence to tackle the job of monitoring and evaluating the content Community High School kids will generate. The only thing you actually will do is ensure they know how to post and cover their tracks better than most kids their age. Twat."