The price of free speech

So imagine this: Your potential future employer just received the resume you e-mailed him late last night. He reads it and likes enough of what he sees, so, out of curiosity, he opens a new tab in his browser and does a quick Google search of your name.

Oh but wait, what's this? Potential Boss clicks on a link to an article published in your college paper. It brings him to a vindictive letter to the editor you wrote way back when. In it, you've clearly demonstrated your "stick it to The Man" attitude and, upon reading, Potential Boss decides that, though you may have grown out of that attitude since you graduated, he'd rather not risk undermining his own authority.

Someone-Else's Potential Boss looks at a different resume.

So moral of the story, ladies and gents: Free speech, in all its vulgar glory, has a new wrinkle in this day and age.

Facebook, Myspace, the all-powerful Google search bar in the upper-right-hand corner of your Web browser - all are powerful assets for employers, athletic recruiters, even the girl you sorta-kinda-maybe hooked up with last night. Good Lord, just think about what your own parents might stumble across if they search their precious baby online.

Now, I'm not about to go around denying anyone his First Amendment rights, so calm down. You can say whatever the heck you want as far as I'm concerned. You'll tick a few people off in the process, I guarantee. But in the end, it's your mouth, your right.

You just have to deal with the consequences. You can't deny an employer his right to consider a candidate's track record when he's making hiring decisions. There is nothing wrong with being resourceful and making use of all those great social networks and search engines.

Just think, then, of all the great opportunities you might be missing out on because of something you wrote back in the heat of your slightly less mature college years.

We all go through that developmental phase of resisting authority and overusing our arsenal of four-letter words. It's part of moving from the stage of life that's "all about me" to one of greater social awareness and consideration of the consequences of our actions. It usually happens about the time when we get our first paycheck and realize just how precious much of our minimum wage is getting taken out in taxes. Cue the faceless epitome of authority and scapegoat of youthful anger, "The Man."

So we tend to excuse that kind of behavior, that attitude with a so-called cause. Surely it's all right to act like that in college. Because the thing is, most people (hopefully) grow out of that attitude. They realize that having an actual civil discussion is better than proclaiming your life philosophy with a T-shirt slogan. They realize they're not being clever or funny, or that they're actually disrespecting those charged with the their safety and that of the community. The most you can hope for, as you're growing up, is that you haven't done or said anything you'll later regret.

And seriously, come on. People have been shouting "Eff the fill-in-the-blank" since the dawn of civilization. Wearing, and taking pride in, a T-shirt that says as much as the intellectual equivalent of sticking your tongue out at someone and calling them a poopy-face. An actual protest, an actual opinion, needs to consist of more than a T-shirt slogan. Boston College is an academically challenging school. If you are going to risk your reputation by expressing your freedom of speech, at least do BC proud by having a bit more substance to your opinion, whatever it may be.

The price of free speech today is accountability, intelligence, and plain old originality. Arguments need substance, not just attitude.

Jocelyn Rousey is a Heights staff columnist. She welcomes comments at jrousey@bcheights.com.