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  • Facebook, Restorative Justice, and a Blurry Placenta

    By Eric Stoller January 4, 2011 4:30 am EST

    When your editor asks if you plan on "weighing in on the placenta/Facebook story" it gets your attention. Having read "Facebook, a Placenta and a Lawsuit" on Monday, I re-read the article and the comments from Inside Higher Ed readers. Four students in the nursing program at Johnson County Community College were "dismissed" from the program after they posted a photograph of a placenta on at least one Facebook profile.

    While posting a photograph of an anonymous patient's placenta on Facebook was clearly a misguided act, I don't think that JCCC officials acted in a restorative manner. According to the official JCCC statement, the students were not expelled, but were temporarily dismissed until August of 2011 at which time they could reapply to their program. Additionally, the students were "asked to participate in a project on medical ethics." However, one of the students was slated to graduate in May of 2011. She would be forced to delay her graduation (pending re-admittance to her program) for an entire year. I don't think that the punishment suits the offense. I've chaired student conduct hearings and acted as a conduct official. Pseudo-suspending 4 students for posting a blurry photo of an anonymous placenta is ridiculous.

    It's fairly obvious that the students in question made a colossal error in judgement. However, whatever happened to learning from mistakes? The photo should have never been posted. That much is certain. Unfortunately, the officials involved at JCCC allegedly did not provide adequate due process throughout this situation. It seems to me that the college overreacted in a punitive fashion instead of coming up with a restorative sanction.

    I would also like to point out that social media, the method of communication that lead to the dismissal, is once again being portrayed in a negative light. According to JCCC's president, "The fact that this story has so quickly gone viral is evidence itself of how damaging social media can be if not used appropriately." The story seems to have gone viral because the college swung an overly aggressive hammer in the direction of 4 students who made a correctable error.

    I wonder if students at JCCC are taught how to use social media sites like Facebook in a manner that is respectful, ethical, and appropriate in terms of patient confidentiality. Posting and sharing all aspects of our daily lives via social media has become an accepted norm. As with most disciplines, students are not always inherently aware of what is and is not right. We have to teach them, not overly punish them when they make mistakes.

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Comments on Facebook, Restorative Justice, and a Blurry Placenta

  • Well said
  • Posted by L D King , Director of the Center for Student Success at Anderson University on January 4, 2011 at 8:45am EST
  • This is a very good assessment of the situation. The students could have been led through a very helpful discussion of what is ethical behavior, received some sanction short of suspension, and likely most of us would know nothing about this. While I am concerned about the misuse of social media, most colleges have done little if anything to help educate students as to the proper use.
  • Posted by Jason Krulicki , Campus Programs on January 4, 2011 at 10:15am EST
  • Great summary of the situation. Instituions will have to start addressing obvious double standards and an acute lack of concrete policy when it comes to social media and current/prospective students.
  • agreed
  • Posted by Deborah , Associate Professor Women's Studies at Wichita State University on January 4, 2011 at 3:00pm EST
  • I appreciate this post so much. The administration overreacted out of fear of negative publicity to the campus as much as anything else. And the language politics here were also driven by a concern with alibi-building after the fact--"we didn't 'expel,' we dismissed." Yes, the students can come back, but one of them was supposed to graduate in May, etc.

    And it is the case that ironically by dismissing the students the administrators put their institution in the public eye more than what the students alone did. They compounded the problem, because they acted too quickly and without due process for the students.
  • Education and guidance needed
  • Posted by J.D. Ross on January 4, 2011 at 3:00pm EST
  • I think this is one of those cases that could have been avoided had the school provided some sort of social media etiquette training or information during an orientation session. Yes, sharing our lives via social media is becoming more of the norm - but too many students aren't fully aware of the repercussions of doing this.

    We spend a lot of time at orientation covering things like library hours, academic advising tips and alcohol education, but how many of our institutions cover social media behavior? I'd venture to say not too many. It's more than just social media - it's about teaching students the importance of managing their digital identity.

    Clearly, there's a place in higher education for such training and guidance - and it should come well before students have a chance to cross a line that didn't seem like a line to them in the first place.
  • Students deserve due process
  • Posted by Ruth Sterner , Academic Advisor at Oregon State University on January 6, 2011 at 1:00pm EST
  • I agree with other comments that the administration acted out of fear in this case and failed to provide the students involved with their basic right to due process. While a conduct officer or conduct board may have decided to sanction the students in a similar fashion, they would have heard from the students, from the instructor and from others involved and been able to make an educated decision. The fact that the students were not given the opportunity to speak for themselves is very disturbing.

    While I agree that students need better counsel on how to use social media in professional, respectful and (hopefully) effective ways, this situation also highlights the need for academic and student affairs professionals/ administrators to receive training and support around professional ethics and the legal ramifications of using and regulating social media.

  • Another view
  • Posted by Conni Claflin , Doctoral Student at Walden University on February 7, 2011 at 12:00pm EST
  • Although I can appreciate your comments regarding the responsibility of the university to "train" students on proper use of social media, I disagree that this punishment was overboard.

    First, all nursing programs include a course in ethics. Although these students may not have been specifically told "Don't post pictures of patients on Facebook", I am sure they were trained in privacy laws and patient care.

    Let's look at this from the perspective of the patient. Whether or not the picture was posted without a name, the point of the matter is that these students violated the privacy of a patient in thier care. If I was the woman in question, I would be livid. And a minor slap on the wrist would not have been enough. If these students were out in the real world, they would more than likely have lost thier jobs and opened up a lawsuit for themselves and their employer. I think the action the college took was the college equivalent of that.

    Now, if thier due process was violated throughout the conduct hearing, that is something the university should look at. But it does not take away from the fact that students need to be responsible for thier actions and this was obviously a wrong decision.

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