Teens Advice

[moomoo072001]

Hi, my long distance boyfriend and I are having a rough patch and I would really like advice. He is not very confident our relationship is goung to last but it has been 9 months and he says he has come too far to just give up. I am 17 and will be 18 in december. i am also a senior this year. My boyfriend is 17 and will be 18 in July he is also a senior. I am in Missouri and he is in Colorado. My private school just set a new rule that if any of the students had any form of social media then they would be punished. I have no idea what the punishment would be but I guess some form of detention. I've already temporarily disabled instagram. I need to get rid of snapchat but that is the app that I use to talk to my boyfriend. We both cannot just text because we can't afford data for our phones. On top of that I'm not even supposed to have a phone but I bought mine for $70 at Wal-Mart. I was lonely and I don't regret meeting him.

[Littlewhiteflower]

Well it might be a private school and you might not be allowed to use your phone in class, which is perfectly normal, but I don't see why you have to delete snapchat and instagram. This belongs to you and you have rights as a human being.

Do not use it in class because when you go to school, you go there to study and to learn. Plus it is disrespectful for the teachers. It does not mean you can't use the phone at home or in your free time.

[moomoo072001]

It's a new rule that even at home no one can have any form of social media. I use snapchat with my SO and I really am not willing to give it up. I'm not sure how they would figure out if we have snapchat but I don't want to lose him and I only have 28 days now to figure out what to do.

[Littlewhiteflower]

Well.. you live in a pretty strict family. You could delete the app and download it back and forth whenever you are alone. You won't lose your contacts and your boyfriend will still be able to send you snaps. The only thing is you will see the notification only when you will log in again.

Do you have a private email address that only you have access? Because by deleting back and forth snapchat, everytime you will log in again, you will receive an email. So, it might be better if your parents don't have access to your emails.

Emails are not social media according to me. They are kind of important. You could use them to communicate with your SO. Gmail has a chat room I use with my fiancé called Hangout. You can use it on a computer or on a phone. It is a very nice app.

I would suggest telling them the truth though (about your SO). It would save you lots of stress to be honest and it might make you stronger as a family.

[moomoo072001]

Alright we are trying Google hangouts and skype before the school's 30 day time limit is up. Thank you for you help.

[autumn1790]

What kind of school do you go to? That's infringement of freedom and privacy to control what you do (legally) at home. If this rule was contested which it absolutely should be, they would have absolutely no ground to stand on.

[moomoo072001]

I do go to a private school so they can make what ever rule they want, as my mother put it. The other kids arent happy about it either but we'll see what happens after the 30 day deadline is reached when a lot of people haven't deleted their snapchat. No one has gone up and said anything about this stupid rule though.

[maple]

Private schools have more power over the students than public schools but that rule seems very unreasonable. Is it actually listed in your schools handbook, or is it just the teachers saying so without any back up?

[moomoo072001]

It is the principle that is saying this but how will they enforce it at all?

[autumn1790]

They can make rules for when you are on their property, their time, their equipment. If you are on your own personal property using your own phone, they cannot legally restrict what you do. Your job is to follow the rules when you're in school, not on your own time. If you get a detention, think about filing a complaint.

[moomoo072001]

Alright thank you so much for all of your help. I will be keeping snapchat but we both have gotten both skype and Google hangouts as backup. I will let you guys know what happens. Wish us luck.

[Rezie]

What the actual f@ck?! The school is allowed to make any rules they want for students personal lives and say "its policy. You must"? That cannot be legal.

[Rezie]

I would also fight this. Make a petition with the students. Contact local new papers, make a social media campaign. Pick an angle of how your freedom is restricted (US politics seem to love this whole "freedom" thing). I think this is a dumb rule, it gives a precedent for school to make any rules what they want.

I definitely support not using smartphones in school. And I don't really feel passionately on social media in general. But I have a problem with schools/work places effecting people's personal lives with their rules.

[moomoo072001]

We've been following these stupid rules since I came to the school in 7th grade. New rules have come and been more and more ridiculous. This year is the new most ridiculous rule. I also cannot petition or anything because there is not enough people in my school for that. There are only 11 high school girls this year, only 2 senior girls.