For people of my generation, it is a struggle to understand why students can be so open on the internet. Some post to the class blog that they are promiscuous, indulging in illegal drugs, drinking under age, getting obscenely drunk and stoned, even discussing date rape drugs in less than condemnatory language.
I can not imagine how all this will look when they are applying for police, government, law, corporate jobs. Yesterday, The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s excellent student newspaper, reported a recent study which shows that 93% of recruiters are using the internet to see how candidates present themselves off clock. Only 1% of recruiters see references to illegal drug use and sexually explicit posts as positive.
I was asked yesterday if I feel any responsibility for the potentially self-harming stuff the students are posting. I hadn’t been: I’ve told the class – in class – several times that they should be careful.
But is that enough? Telling teenagers and young twenty-somethings to be careful…? Like that works.