Look at that dang Facebook… causing trouble again! Two students were recently suspended and one student expelled after they posted negative remarks on their Facebook pages about a teacher.
The students were facebooking from their home computers and apparently the comments caught the watchful eye of someone at the school. School officials said the three students violated the disciplinary code.
Twelve-year-old Alejandra Sosa called one of her teachers at Chapel Hill Middle School a pedophile. While she says she regrets posting the comment online, the honor roll student was suspended for 10 days and she’s now facing expulsion.
“I was just expressing myself on Facebook, because like I said I was mad that day because of what he [did]. So, I mean I had no intentions of ruining his reputation,” said Sosa.
William Lambert, II was also suspended. He called the same teacher a rapist.
“I shouldn’t have done it,” said student William Lambert, III. “Because I could have still been at school, like right now, if I never had commented on the post.”
The honor student’s father said he didn’t condone the comment but believes that what’s done in the privacy of one’s home should not be the subject of disciplinary action at school.
“Because it is a privacy issue. When you’re at home on your computer, a lot of people say a lot of things on Facebook, about a lot of people, including our president, including senators, governors. [I think] the school should write the rules of Facebook into their policy before they try to take rules out of context,” said Lambert’s father, William Lambert, Jr.
A third child was expelled for posting that the same teacher is bipolar. The student’s mother asked not to be identified but said she believed the school’s punishment did not fit the crime.
“She made a disrespectful comment, however she is 12-years-old and she didn?t even get a chance to apologize for it before its done and over, you’re out of school,” said the parent.
At least two of the families said they plan to hire attorneys and fight the disciplinary charges in a school tribunal.
Social networking expert, Ben Halpert said the case should serve as a lesson for students and parents alike.
“When you go home, yes it is your private environment but the school can actually say we would expect you to have nice behavior, be kind to others, not be a cyber bully, not be a bully in general. But it doesn’t mean they can enforce it because we’re coming into free speech territory here.”
Do you think the school went to far in suspending the students?
(source)
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