The Internet Was Never the Wall I Thought It Was

I could remember while still in school, there is this final year group that our class rep created then, a WhatsApp group actually, not even an Instagram or Facebook. Then one of us posted a complaint about some issues going on in my department and how some lecturers have been behaving and so on. I am not sure if he was aware that the then HOD of the department was there; what he posted happened over the weekend, but on Monday morning during one of our lectures, the HOD's secretary to fetch for him.

Some of us followed him, we left the lecture just to see what wanted to happen. Some of the top lecturers and some other staff were already gathered, and some were going through their phones, others checking another person's phone just to read what one of us said about them, I guess some people have screenshotted it and sent the message across to others because I don't think the HOD even had the time to be going through our chats. Anyway, the discussion landed exactly where it could do the most damage.

From the office of the HOD, he asked the boy a simple question, "Is this what you go around telling people about us?" His voice was high, but the guy didn't say any thing and I guess that was better. The case was settled immediately, and we went back to continue the lecture. Until we graduated, he never said anything in that group again just to avoid stories that touches again.

And exactly that morning, I got to know more about privacy that has nothing to do with school policy. What I used to think was that the internet was a wall between my professional life and personal one. What I actually had was an extremely tiny curtain, and everyone standing near it knows another person who knows the next person.

There is something crucial missing when we talk about the debate about whether schools should formally be monitoring the accounts of what staff and students post. Assuming there was an official monitoring policy, nothing would have changed if the he was caught or punished, because the HOD had already done the job fast enough and could more effectively than the school system could. What could have properly happened was that there might be more paperwork added to something that was already happening anyway.

But what I was not actually amazed about was not the gathering of other lecturers and staff but how the information went viral even though it was just out to the class group only before it went official. Though the class rep deleted the message. But what I want to agree with is that schools can have a say over what is posted, but only with clear limits, a genuine reasons for the actions they are taking, and a chance to respond, and this must also be applicable to all staff too without leaving anyone out. Not the arbitrary style.

Thank you for reading.

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