Kavanaugh school scrutiny highlights teens’ worries

What social mediasavvy school students say and do now will live well past graduation

The firestorm surrounding President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court over the nominee’s behaviour in the 1980s has reinforced a warning today’s social media-savvy high school students have grown up hearing: What they say and do now will live well past graduation.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh was facing a historic hearing yesterday over assault allegations dating back to his high school and college years.

Some teenagers today say they are more mindful of the enduring quality of their words and actions because they’ve grown up with the internet and social media posts are increasingly part of the college admission and job vetting process.

In contrast, the evidence collected in the Kavanaugh’s past includes decades-old yearbooks and calendars.

California high school senior Maya Carpenter, 17, says she’s taken classes since middle school on being safe on the internet, and her high school offers a digital citizenship class on the subject. “They put a lot of emphasis on how whatever you say never really goes away,” she said. “What’s happening with the Kavanaugh hearings is a great example of that.”

Tough lessons

At least 10 prospective Harvard University students learnt this lesson the hard way last year when their dream school rescinded admission offers after they traded posts on Facebook that were reportedly often sexually explicit and mocked Mexicans, the Holocaust, sexual assault and child abuse.

Colleges also make no secret of the fact they visit applicants’ social media profiles. A Kaplan Test Prep survey in April said 68 per cent of colleges consider profiles on Facebook and Instagram “fair game” as they decide who gets admitted.

A big difference today — it’s unlikely to take 30 years for misconduct to cause problems.

“It’s definitely something that a lot of people are aware of,” said Georgia VanDerwater, 18, of Holland, New York.

She is cautious about what she posts online, and even her mother keeps tabs on her social media posts and messages when she sees something that could be troublesome down the road.

“Be it a joke or a swear word in a tweet, I send it back. I will write and say, ‘I just want you to know that when I read this I interpreted it this way, and so other people might interpret it this way,’” said Georgia’s mother, Amy VanDerwater.

Bob Farrace, spokesman for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, says schools have been steering students toward more constructive yearbook posts for years.

“Principals and yearbook advisers have always dissuaded students from writing inappropriate commentary in their yearbook,” he said.