Many students do not realize that what they post on any social media website really can affect them and their future.

Colleges, coaches, and high school staff and administrators all look at the type of student they are bringing into their organization. If an athlete posts a picture that could be considered inappropriate, they will have to suffer the appropriate consequences. In some cases, they can even get their spot on a team taken away from them.

There have been examples of students in St. Louis area high schools who have gotten themselves in trouble because of things they have posted to their social media accounts.

Students at Fort Zumwalt East High School were found to be distributing inappropriate “selfies,” and they not only got suspended by the school, but they are also being investigated by the St. Charles County police because the pictures involved minors.

There has not been anything as serious as what happened at Fort Zumwalt East at Ritenour, but some students have had negative experiences with social media.

Take senior John Rodenberg as an example. Rodenberg, who admits that he has learned from his mistakes, used to take what he thought were funny pictures of students and post them on Instagram or Facebook, unintentually making fun of the student.

“I didn’t think about what I was doing until I did it and had to suffer the consequences,” Rodenberg said.

No matter what is posted or where it is posted, thinking about the consequences before clicking post could prevent a bad result.

Rodenberg didn’t know he was hurting anybody’s feelings until he got in trouble and learned the reactions of his peers.

Another senior, Donshel Beck learned that college coaches are very active on Twitter. Beck, who will be playing basketball next season at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, was told by another college coach that he was going to take her scholarship offer away from her because something she retweeted that had profanity in it.

“He said I had colorful language and they were not looking for those qualities in a student athlete,” Beck said.

Even though it was not Beck’s tweet, it was enough to get a college coach to take an action. Beck learned from the event and has started looking more carefully at what she puts online.

Athletic Director Drew Lohnes cautions other athletes to make sure they know what types of messages they are sending with their tweets and posts.

“I always warn athletes that what you put on any social media can be viewed by any prospective recruiter. Would you want your current or future coaches to see you representing your program in a negative way? No. Everyone needs to assume that everything is viewed by the entire world. It’s just the world we live in now,” Lohnes said.