Will definitely look into implementing one of the real foolproof methods (and am going to bookmark this thread for the future because it is something I am pretty keen on learning more about).
However, what would it take to simply hide the message icon from admins?
I can’t have admins knowing other user’s business so easily, but if the option is simply not available, except by a hack, that should suffice for the time being. I will add caveats and warning messages (and even link to this discussion) and then they can make their own mind on how they would like to use messaging.