There is a place for correction and God has placed people in authority to handle this act, I will never deny that. In fact, the correction structure is quite possibly my favorite apparatus within a functioning Christian community. It allows for the growth needed to continue developing a strong relationship with God and other believers. That being said, I do not feel like this structure was properly implemented in my current disciplinary issue.
I, like the majority of you on this campus, have many social media accounts. I am friends with many faculty and staff on Facebook and I have seen this connection nurture friendship and community with them. I also have a Twitter account through which I keep up with a select group of friends where we share jokes and funny occurrences in our day. Many of my professors dislike the Twitter format openly and I can only think of one professor who has an account. Regardless, because of the student-teacher integration on Facebook, I see more complaining about teachers or the school on Twitter than on Facebook. I do not speak for other students, but sometimes the act of complaining about a teacher or an assignment actually allows me to get my frustration out of the way and to accomplish the task. It may not be proper, but it works for me.
This past Thursday I was called into the Office of Student Life to explain five of my tweets. Do not be alarmed, OSL says it does not monitor our tweets or our Facebook updates, but that does not mean you cannot get in trouble if you post something on either of those platforms. I know of another situation in which someone printed photos from Facebook and took them in. Someone had gone through my thousand plus tweets and turned in five tweets they considered suspicious to OSL. I truthfully explained why I tweeted each of the five and promised to delete them upon the end of our meeting. One of the tweets I actually regretted tweeting, so I welcomed the correction.
Friends and others who heard wanted me to be angry, however, I left the meeting only feeling amused. I called two of my closest friends who are former students and they were completely shocked. My mom laughed and said that it would make a good story to share after graduation. Two of my professors said they had heard worse from other professors in the classroom. Three of my very close friends are RAs, and they just shook their head and laughed. It seemed so ridiculous that anyone who heard it had the reaction of, “Are you serious? Twitter?”
Do not misunderstand me; I do not hold anything against OSL for this meeting. I am under their authority of my own volition, and I accepted the correction and owned up to my tweets. At the time of writing, I have received no points or work hours and I am thankful for the grace I was shown in this matter
That leads me to the real point of this letter: why was I turned in? Or rather, who turned me in? Almost every person I have shared this experience with has stated that it either seems like someone holds a vendetta against me or was playing some sort of convoluted joke. I am curious as well, because, let’s be honest, it is Twitter. I thought most of my Twitter followers were my friends, though I did not protect my tweets, so my profile was accessible to anyone. I have since changed that, and I suggest you do the same.
I was told during my meeting that they do not typically have these sorts of meetings because if they monitored Twitter and Facebook, they would have these sorts of meetings all day long. My case was special because someone took the time to turn me in. Part of me wants to question why they even bothered if it something so out of the norm, but I understand the responsibility of OSL’s position, so I must ask a question: Why did that person not come to me and ask me about my tweets himself? Many of you know me and know that I am a very approachable guy. I am an adult and can handle conversations where I am being corrected. Matthew 18:15 states, “if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”
Students complain about rules on this campus all the time. Why do we not hold each other accountable so that maybe the more ridiculous ones can slowly be shown in their own light? We asked to be treated like adults, but with every rule we break we either force our friends into awkward decisions or receive correction and then desire to rebel against the system even more. We want to be adults, yet we act like children.
I admitted that I was at fault; I received correction, changed my action, and moved forward. I am only at Bryan for a time, but this ability will extend far beyond the reaches of this hill. There will be hard to please bosses in my future. There will be ridiculous company and government policies in my future. While OSL may not monitor my Facebook and Twitter profiles, future companies will and I’m willing to bet the government already does. We have an opportunity to keep ourselves in check through biblical community; let’s use it.
– Senior Garrett Lemons