There are always consequences

That's how Lizzy concluded the really interesting entry she wrote for the Online Gargoyle Staff Blog about her and a friend's experiences with blogging and social networking sites. Her take-home message was that, despite all the warnings about how nothing on the Internet is ever really private, you never think that you will be the one who will be outed, embarrassed, caught, disciplined, de-selected, or fired for what you (or a friend) have posted online. It never feels like what you do outside of school has anything to do with what goes on inside school, let alone with those people who are "in charge" at school. And you never picture yourself as the person whose picture gets in the paper after some casual click of the mouse.

I feel like we spend a lot of time here teaching about just these kinds of issues. But it still comes down to the "it will never happen to me" syndrome. I'll never forget "Hieronymous" who, when he did actually get caught in one of these situations, just asked: "Am I going to become a scenario?" Sigh.