To investigate the role that social media and privacy play in JC students’ lives, “The Patriot” created a Facebook profile for a fictional 16-year-old named Heather Williams.

Within hours of Williams’s friend requesting JC students (Willams eventually was friends with 16.3 percent of the student body), students began posting on Facebook that Williams was a teacher or administrator.

“Heather Williams is like the John Carroll Administration looking at pictures or something so no one accept her friend request!!!!” one student posted on Facebook.

“It’s funny how John Carroll tries to make up people on Facebook and tries adding you as a friend to get you in trouble,” another student posted.

“I was friend requested by her. I accepted knowing that something was up and then I deleted her like an hour later,” senior Pat St. Clair said.

“I added her, then stalked her profile and tried to figure out which teacher it was because they added only JC people,” freshman Maddie Day said.

Dean of Freshmen Sean Ireton understands why students would jump to the conclusion that the administration was responsible for the Heather Williams profile. “I can see where the students would see that. Why would you think that your peers would do that?” Ireton said.

“It really looked unseemly. My first instinct was to see if it could be someone who could harm the students,” Dean of Students Tom Vierheller said.

But the administration was not the first to hear about Heather Williams. “I was rather late in the process. A mother had called in about it. Thursday was when I find first found out,” Vierheller said. As parents were beginning to hear and wonder about this mysterious profile, the school had to take some kind of action.

”What now? Follow up with law enforcement in a reasonable time,” Vierheller said. As the students began to suspect the administration, the administration began to suspect something much worse. “My first instinct is always safety of our students. Your wellbeing is our number one job,” Vierheller said.

“Kids have gotten in trouble before from Facebook so it didn’t seem out of the question that it was the administration,” senior Ryan Kirby said.

“I was hurt by it because I try so hard to remain in a good rapport with the students. I would hate to think that they would think of me as someone who would abuse that relationship and then trap them. That’s a bad example to set for my students. We should be setting a good example,” Vierheller said.

“It wasn’t that what they were trying to do was wrong, it was the way they [“The Patriot”] went about it. It was deceitful and when you deceive someone it’s wrong,” Ireton said.

“We’re built on a basis of trust you don’t need teachers and administrators watching your every move. It’s off campus behavior. How long is the long arm of JC’s law for us to go out and search? No. I wouldn’t want to be a part of it.” Vierheller said.

Lindsay Powell is a reporter for “The Patriot” and jcpatriot.com.