Many students have expressed outrage in response to photos posted of the STAR test on Instagram, which breached STAR test policies. These incidents could jeopardize MVHS’s API score and possibly put the school at risk for other consequences, which are to be decided by state STAR administrators. Although indignation directed toward the few perpetrators is not totally unwarranted,the breaches ultimately reveal a crucial flaw in students’ current understanding of what is appropriate to post on social media.

Users of social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr know that it is fair game to post photos and information about virtually every topic: breakfast, new clothes, test scores, photos of teachers taken indiscreetly, pets in amusing poses and myriad other subjects. While there is little harm to be found in telling the world what you ate for breakfast, students fail to realize that posting about almost every seemingly mundane and inconsequential event that occurs is sure to reap unintended consequences.

Yes, it was foolish of students to post photos of STAR test materials on public sites, but we should learn from their mistakes rather than simply disparage their thoughtlessness. Students need to begin to question whether all that we post on social media sites is truly appropriate for public view. After all, many students would not have anticipated posting photos of closed STAR test booklets as being problematic, as is apparent by the fact that although many viewed such photos, none warned the posters of potential consequences.

This event reveals that students are unaware of the implications of indiscriminately posting photos and information on social media sites. We should take this incident as a lesson regarding the appropriate use of social media and realize that it is not acceptable to post without considering the consequences.

Social media will continue to play a substantial role in how we communicate and share information, but that doesn’t mean that we need to publicly document every aspect of our lives. If students do not begin to take discretion in posting information and photos on social media, there is no doubt that this kind of incident will occur again and unintended repercussions will result.