A Case Study on Law, Ethics, and Social Media

Abstract

TheAssociationtoAdvanceCollegiateSchoolsofBusiness(AACSB)accreditationstandardsonlearningandteaching,adoptedin2013,requirestudents to“engageinexperientialandactivelearningdesignedtoimproveskillsand theapplicationofknowledgeinpractice.”1 Thediscussionofthefactsofreallifecasestudiesisagreatwaytohelpstudentsengageinthiskindofpractical knowledge application. Since many, if not most, undergraduates have little familiarity with the law and legal concepts that arise in business situations and most have not yet started their careers, it is sometimes helpful to use a casestudyaboutatopicorsituationtheyalreadyknowsomethingabout.The following case is about what happened when a high school student republished on her blog a picture of other high school students playing a drinking game. The students had posted the picture of themselves playing the game to Snapchat. (Snapchat is designed so that photos on it disappear after they areviewed).2 Itshowedthestudentsinvolvedinanactivitythatraisedethical concerns.