Kids suspended for FaceBook posts

[Mermaid02]

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/137848.html

3 students were suspended for "trash talk" on FB after a basketball game. It wasn't nice, but I don't think it's any worse than things they say to each other if they met at the mall. The kids were not posting at school- they were at home. Frankly I think this is a parent issue NOT a school issue. It also kind of gives me the creeps that a school official is perusing the kids FB accounts.

That being said, kids need to know that once you put something out there- it's there!

 

[dakcp2001]

I think it is good that the school is taking it seriously. Racist & homophobic comments are not simply "trash talk".

I am actually shocked that anyone would think that the kids should NOT get in trouble for this, or that their parents would defend that kind of behavior. Shame on them. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

A little girl in Massachusetts just commited suicide over things that other kids were posting about her on their facebook page. If the school had taken action, she might still be alive. I bet her parents would have an opinion on this. It is just another form of bullying.

 

[SaraJayne]

I think it is good that the school is taking it seriously. Racist & homophobic comments are not simply "trash talk".

I am actually shocked that anyone would think that the kids should NOT get in trouble for this, or that their parents would defend that kind of behavior. Shame on them. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

A little girl in Massachusetts just commited suicide over things that other kids were posting about her on their facebook page. If the school had taken action, she might still be alive. I bet her parents would have an opinion on this. It is just another form of bullying.

The kids should get in trouble for it ~ from the parents, not the school.

The school has no business disciplining the kids since it was not on school time/property. If the posting would have been made at school, than the school would have a leg to stand on.

 

[TheZue]

This is a fine line, but I think the only time a school should intervene in facebook stuff is when there is extreme bullying going on against students. Online bullying takes it to a whole new level and at that point I think any and all adults need to step in at full strength. This should be left to the parents though.

 

[Mermaid02]

I think it is good that the school is taking it seriously. Racist & homophobic comments are not simply "trash talk".

I am actually shocked that anyone would think that the kids should NOT get in trouble for this, or that their parents would defend that kind of behavior. Shame on them. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

A little girl in Massachusetts just commited suicide over things that other kids were posting about her on their facebook page. If the school had taken action, she might still be alive. I bet her parents would have an opinion on this. It is just another form of bullying.

I think they should be in trouble- but I think they should be in trouble at home. Parents need to monitor what their kids are doing on line when they are at home. Some parents will and do, and some won't. The school can't be responsible for what kids do outside of their walls- it is not the schools fault that little girl was bullied on line and it is not the schools fault she committed suicide.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Here is the rub, not allowing the school to discipline based on FB material puts bullied/threatened students in a bad position.

It is a double edged sword here.

The reality of internet sites is that your employer and others (schools, organizations, scholarships, etc) will look you up and base decisions on your employment/volunteering or jail if it is a legal issue.

I am not saying what they did was the correct in this situation. However the school policy has blanket language of school conduct which would include FB.

 

[dakcp2001]

My school had a "Code of Conduct", I am not sure how common that is, but this would certainly violate it. Perhaps instead of the school the comments should be reported to the police instead, they could be considered a hate crime.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

The kids should get in trouble for it ~ from the parents, not the school.

The school has no business disciplining the kids since it was not on school time/property. If the posting would have been made at school, than the school would have a leg to stand on.

Agreed - if this happened to one of my children, I would probably bring in my lawyer.

That said, it offers these kids a valuable lesson. Actions have consequences. You can control your actions, but not the consequences...

 

[Mermaid02]

Here is the rub, not allowing the school to discipline based on FB material puts bullied/threatened students in a bad position.

It is a double edged sword here.

The reality of internet sites is that your employer and others (schools, organizations, etc) will look you up and base decisions on your employment/volunteering or jail if it is a legal issue.

I think if your child is being bullied online bringing it to the schools attention is wise- then if they see any of it at school they can deal with it.

 

[Tricia1972]

My school had a "Code of Conduct", I am not sure how common that is, but this would certainly violate it. Perhaps instead of the school the comments should be reported to the police instead, they could be considered a hate crime.

According to the article the "Code of Conduct" encompasses after school actions and activities that affect the general welfare of the school.

From the article

“The code of conduct says ‘These rules and policies apply to any student who is on school grounds, who is in attendance at school or any school-sponsored activities, [and] whose conduct at any time or place directly interferes with the operation, discipline, or impacts the general welfare of the school,’”

 

[cheermom1]

My school had a "Code of Conduct", I am not sure how common that is, but this would certainly violate it. Perhaps instead of the school the comments should be reported to the police instead, they could be considered a hate crime.

I agree I think the police should have been called b/c I really don't think the school had any right to do what they did.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think if your child is being bullied online bringing it to the schools attention is wise- then if they see any of it at school they can deal with it.

While that sounds nice on paper, it does not translate well into reality.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Schools are always criticized for not doing enough in the bullying / cyber-bullying area. So, schools seem to go overboard in dealing with these issues to err on the side of caution and safety of the kids.

Parents do need to take responsibility for the actions of their children and closely monitor their FB, et al. Although this is not foolproof either.

 

[Mermaid02]

According to the article the "Code of Conduct" encompasses after school actions and activities that affect the general welfare of the school.

From the article

Legally I think the school is over stepping with it's code of conduct- basically they are saying if you do anything we don't like- we'll get you. It will be interesting to see this play out. I'm sure lawyers have been called already.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

There was no bullying, as there were no threats (per the article). This was name calling. Since that included some politically incorrect stuff, the school went nuts. Anyone care to wager that this would have been completely ignored had the politically incorrect comments not been included and this had been simple name calling...

 

[TheZue]

I can't imagine paying for a lawyer if my children said that junk. They would be on their own on that one lol. That would fall under sometimes life isn't fair, but you shouldn't put that out there on a public media. You're lucky it wasn't an employer who saw that.

And fun thing about this, I bet when they go to get jobs since their parents are fighting it if their employer googles their name this will pop up.

 

[gina2000]

Cyberbullying has become a hot topic in most middle schools. We're entering a new realm of accountability and kids who are violating basic human codes of ethics are being called on the carpet for it.

I have no idea whose responsibility it should be, but our schools are maintaining a proactive role in educating students about cyberbullying and stranger danger. We've had police officers in to discuss the capability of tracing both through servers. The concept seems to be that all students should be protected from strangers as well as from each other....and that cyberbullying or stalking should be reported to parents, teachers or police authorities.

 

[Mermaid02]

There was no bullying, as there were no threats (per the article). This was name calling. Since that included some politically incorrect stuff, the school went nuts. Anyone care to wager that this would have been completely ignored had the politically incorrect comments not been included and this had been simple name calling...

Agreed.

And keep in mind too- these schools aren't near each other. These kids aren't going to run into each other at the mall. They most likely wont' see each other again until next basketball season- and if they graduated this year, probably never.

 

[cheermom1]

There was no bullying, as there were no threats (per the article). This was name calling. Since that included some politically incorrect stuff, the school went nuts. Anyone care to wager that this would have been completely ignored had the politically incorrect comments not been included and this had been simple name calling...

and that is the sad part b/c name calling leads to the bigger stuff of bullying not the politically incorrect stuff... I know been there done that. I was told that I 'fell down' to get the bruises on my stomach from the school..

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Again, there was no cyber-bullying. This was childish name calling. There were no threats of any kind.

Not sure how this thread jumped to that conclusion. Read the article...