Opinion plz

[momxx5]

A child's photo taken (without permission) in kinda a bullying way. Picture of girl with sticks in hair (sticks/twigs were being tossed at her).
Picture posted to facebook. Drama starts.

Obviously this involves the school as no electronical devices are to be "out in view" at school.

However, school cannot do anything about posting on Facebook.

What do you think?

 

[Muushka]

It is sad. I really hate Facebook. Sorry, I hope it gets resolved.

 

[creativeamanda]

Parents can have an attorney write a letter to the poster requesting that the picture be taken down.

ETA: Or they can write a letter themselves, sent by certified mail, and cc'd to an attorney.

 

[Hannathy]

You are allowed to take pictures of people without permission. Don't know what an attorney would do.


Girls suck! and what so many brats do on facebook is just cruel and so few parents know or care what their little angels do on there.

Sorry it is happening, I'd just not respond and it will die, if no one gives it any attention.

 

[crisi]

Our school, like many, have an electronic bullying policy. Anything that happens online between two students is treated as if it happened in school.

But set your kid's privacy settings down tight. No one should be tagging pictures of them other than themselves. Not only because of bullying, but because your friends think its funny to post pictures of underage kids holding beer cans.

 

[undertheradar]

Depends upon the ages involved, the use of the photo and who the parents of the photographed girl are. Is this your daughter or just something taking place at school?

 

[LJSquishy]

If you know who took the photo and/or posted it through their Facebook account, contact the parents directly after speaking with the school principal.

 

[reginaastralis]

I agree with what Crisi said ... in our district, online bullying is very much something that the school will, and has to, look into.

Also, kid's privacy settings on fb are a huge deal, and no one should be able to tag your child in photos. I agree with this completely.

Personally, I don't think "kids" need fb, and this includes my 14 year old sister. She's in 8th grade, and my mom and I have fought about this. She had to be "friends" with me on it so I could monitor what she's doing, with the sole policy being she couldn't block me from anything. Well, she blocked me from seeing that she was "in a relationship" with a boy, and I think she should have her account deactivated. According to my mom, I'm too rough, but that's a whole different story.

 

[mrsklamc]

If the school has a 'no electronics in view' policy & the photo was taken at school, that should override the 'can't do anything about facebook' policy.

 

[creativeamanda]

You are allowed to take pictures of people without permission. Don't know what an attorney would do.

If it's in order to harass someone, then an attorney could write a cease and desist letter. My feeling is that since it is being used to bully another child, it is harassing in nature.

 

[englishteacha]

I agree with mrsklamc on this one. If it was taken at school and shouldn't have been, notify the school. I had to address a similar issue with 2 of my theater kids last year. An embarrassing rehearsal video was put on facebook (A girl was out sick and one of the boys filled in, totally overacting and being silly. It was funny in person, but never should have been recorded and posted!) Because it was recorded at a school event, it fell under our bullying policy. I dealt with it as the drama director and made sure the video was taken down, and turned the perp over to the administrator.

 

[creativeamanda]

I agree with mrsklamc on this one. If it was taken at school and shouldn't have been, notify the school. I had to address a similar issue with 2 of my theater kids last year. An embarrassing rehearsal video was put on facebook (A girl was out sick and one of the boys filled in, totally overacting and being silly. It was funny in person, but never should have been recorded and posted!) Because it was recorded at a school event, it fell under our bullying policy. I dealt with it as the drama director and made sure the video was taken down, and turned the perp over to the administrator.

This is probably the case with the poster's issue. I know in our state, every school has to have an anti-bullying policy. Looking at the Code of Conduct Manual, bullying and cyberbullying are level II disruptive conduct offenses. First offense: 3 days out of school suspension with parent conference required; second offense: 5 days OSS; third offense 5 days OSS pending administrative hearing and referral for alternative school placement.

Request the district's code of conduct manual and the state law regarding a school being required to have a bullying policy. Most states are required to.

 

[tar heel]

I'm sure your school has anti-bullying policy and cyber has to be included. North Carolina has a cyber bullying law: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/sessions/2009/bills/house/pdf/h1261v4.pdf

 

[bpesch]

I totally disagree with the school saying there is nothing they can do about something on Facebook. If the picture was taken at school, it's the schools business and they are required to deal with it. It may take some pushing, but don't let it drop. Have you thought about contacting the other kids parents about it? That would be my initial reaction after I dealt with the school. Do it in a non-confrontational way, you may get results. And I'm very fond of the statement "everyone has a boss". Meaning if the school won't deal with it, keep making noise as you go to their boss and then the next level, and so on, until it's dealt with.

 

[scrapquitler]

Our school, like many, have an electronic bullying policy. Anything that happens online between two students is treated as if it happened in school.

But set your kid's privacy settings down tight. No one should be tagging pictures of them other than themselves. Not only because of bullying, but because your friends think its funny to post pictures of underage kids holding beer cans.

This.

I recently spoke to the school resource officer (the police officer who works full time in the high school) at one of our nearby high schools (a neighboring district, not ours). He was working an evening event at the high school and I had some opportunity to speak to him about his job as a school resource officer. He told me that the biggest number one issue they have that causes conflict at the school is with Facebook. Based on what he told me, they would take this sort of thing VERY seriously as a bullying issue because things posted to the internet that constitute bullying are treated just as if they happened in school.

So OP, I'd suggest speaking to the school resource officer if there is one at this school. If not, the guidance counselor or the principal. Hopefully they will address this with the students involved and their parents.

I'd also be sure that my child's FB account is locked down with the highest privacy settings. If this is in regards to a child who is not of the 'legal' age to have a FB account, that account should be closed, in my opinion.

As to the picture taking...it is not illegal to take anyones picture. But it does sound like it was done in violation of the schools electronic devices policy, and that should indeed be addressed by the school asap.
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