Girl, 12, 'interrogated' by school staff until she gives up Facebook password

[AnaTeresa]

I'm not sure that the comparison between work and school is apt. After all, school is required for children, whereas you are not required to work at your place of employment. And then there are the issues of minors vs. adults.

 

[Candy_Pickletoes]

I had an issue with someone posting something negative about my son when he was 16 years old. I didn't call the school, I called the person's parents, we had a meeting, and the posting was removed and an apology issued.

If all we do as parents is run to the school and tattle, what are we teaching our kids? I think a good lesson for a child to learn is that when mom or dad are confronted with a problem they take the necessary, adult steps to overcome that problem, not just run to the school and tattle.

If my child is being bullied by another child while not in school...I would deal with it, I would go to the parent of the bully and discuss it with them. If they are not willing to discuss it, I would calmly tell them that it is my intention to involve the police the next time their child bullies my child. If they say go ahead...well, then... I will do just that.

Of course, I know not everyone is like me and some would prefer to stay away from confrontation, but it's my opinion that the schools have enough on their plate, education should be their primary concern. Dealing with issues outside of the school day only takes their attention away from the entire reason they even exist, to educate our children.

JMHO

 

[legalmania]

Yes, this makes it much clearer that the school violated several rules on grounds that were less than an immediate safety issue.

How can you know that when the school hasn't given it's facts yet? The only side we are hearing is the girls side which is represented by the ACLU. The courts seem to be siding with the schools in other cases. Being a paralegal I like stuff like this, it's very interesting. I can't wait to hear the facts from the school if they are disclosed and see what the outcome is.

 

[Hopeful One]

My son was given a detention last year for getting into an agrument with another child after school and not on the school grounds.

I really think schools are becoming more and more "zero tolerance" and overstepping their bounds. A LOT. What the school did here is ridiculous and I'm glad her parents are suing. I hope they win.

 

[Hopeful One]

BTW, the fact that she had a fb account at the age of 12 is none of the school's business. That would be like giving a 13-yo child a detention for going an R-rated movie. Please.

 

[angelmom]

How can you know that when the school hasn't given it's facts yet? The only side we are hearing is the girls side which is represented by the ACLU. The courts seem to be siding with the schools in other cases. Being a paralegal I like stuff like this, it's very interesting. I can't wait to hear the facts from the school if they are disclosed and see what the outcome is.

From YOUR link:

"The notion that it was a search of her private Facebook content ... the Fourth Amendment applies," she said. "The government has to have a really good reason to do that kind of search," and would need a court order in most cases, she said.

There was no good reason, even according to the school. There was no court order.

Dozens of cases over the last decade have failed to hash out the online version of this debate. In one, a Pennsylvania student who was suspended for making a MySpace page that mocked a principal was granted a reprieve because the U.S. Court of Appeals found it wasn't disruptive.

I think saying a person is mean is much less disruptive than a whole MySpace page making fun of the principal. (In that case, I might have sided with the school.) Which is more disruptive? A comment on facebook or pulling a child out of class repeatedly to threaten and scare her with a deputy sheriff who obviously has too much free time.

 

[legalmania]

BTW, the fact that she had a fb account at the age of 12 is none of the school's business. That would be like giving a 13-yo child a detention for going an R-rated movie. Please.

Don't you think it is the schools business that she was talking about an adult school monitor? Then she went on to want to know who turned her in. From what I understand she was new to that school, so she didn't know people very well.

 

[angelmom]

Don't you think it is the schools business that she was talking about an adult school monitor? Then she went on to want to know who turned her in. From what I understand she was new to that school, so she didn't know people very well.

No. Not unless she was using a school computer, on school property, or making threats.

Haven't these people ever seen these websites?

http://www.ratemyteachers.com/minnewaska-secondary-school/10889-s

(this one even has a "share on facebook" button)

http://www.teachercomplaints.com/search-complaints.html

 

[Nova]

Actually I respectfully disagree. If I post something negative on facebook from home regarding my workplace I can be fired. There have been cases, it has happened. If a parent is bringing complaints of bullying or the like to the principal than what is the admin supposed to do? Ignore it because it happened at home? No they need to address it since obviously the parents aren't. MOO

And if she had a conversation with her friends at the mall, would you expect the school to intervene? If she were making explicit threats of violence, I would expect anyone who heard to call LE. But complaints about a teacher? I'm really not getting something here.

Students are not employees.

And I have news for everybody, 12-year-olds were talking about sex long before Facebook. Even before the internet and before cable TV.

 

[annalia]

Don't you think it is the schools business that she was talking about an adult school monitor? Then she went on to want to know who turned her in. From what I understand she was new to that school, so she didn't know people very well.

my bolding

Do you think kids everywhere don't talk about their teachers and other adult school employees when they're outside of school?

 

[vlpate]

my bolding

Do you think kids everywhere don't talk about their teachers and other adult school employees when they're outside of school?

Why would this child's mother let her continue with a facebook after being suspended for something she wrote on it in the first place. Kids under a certain age can't have public profiles on FB, so it had to be private - who cares what she wrote on her private facebook. If the snitch doesn't like what she says, delete her as a friend.

Sounds like a political deal to me.

 

[vlpate]

Don't you think it is the schools business that she was talking about an adult school monitor? Then she went on to want to know who turned her in. From what I understand she was new to that school, so she didn't know people very well.

Did she say she was going to kill the monitor? Was she bullying the monitor? Otherwise, heck no. IMO

 

[Jacie Estes]

No. Not unless she was using a school computer, on school property, or making threats.

Haven't these people ever seen these websites?

http://www.ratemyteachers.com/minnewaska-secondary-school/10889-s

(this one even has a "share on facebook" button)

http://www.teachercomplaints.com/search-complaints.html

I can't tell you how many times we sat in university classes rating the professor.

 

[Jacie Estes]

There is another thing that concerns me. Why did 3 adults feel it was ok to go into a room with a 12 year old girl? The actions are wrong on so many levels; as adults, as LE, as school employees, they handled the situation incorrectly. IMHO

 

[itsreenw]

I have a problem with the girl having to apologize to the hall monitor. Why should she be sorry for feeling a certain way about someone? She has the right to think people are mean. Her feelings are no less valid than the hall monitor's.

Heck our 16 yr old posted on FB that we are mean. (Me and his dad).

We didn't make him apologize to us...he is entitled to his opinion as is everyone. We just took his Iphone and his Ipad 2 and told him now he could think we were reaalllly mean or he could even hate us if he wanted to, but he wouldn't be posting it on FB at our expense!!

Unless there is some rule about students not having a FB account, the school has NO business monitoring the sites. It's the parents responsibility and if it turns criminal, LE should follow protocol... The school administration stepped over their boundaries on this one, IMO.

 

[vlpate]

I can't tell you how many times we sat in university classes rating the professor.

I remember sitting in the third grade, passing a note to the friend behind me, it said:

"I want to kiss Mr. Dozier. Mrs. Shoemaker is a b**h."

I was suspended for a week! The principal told me I was being suspended not for my opinion, but for passing notes in class and using profanity.

In retrospect, he created a monster LOL.

 

[ravenwitch]

I'm a bit worried about all the people who think this issue is about whether she should even have a facebook page.
At least three adults intimidated a girl. They bullied her, flat out. My daughter is twelve and would be scared to death to have three adults questioning her and insisting she had to tell them something she has been forbidden to share.
We know they didn't just ask once and she said "ok".
Her facebook has all her personal info and is meant to be private not shared with any adult who asks. Are you all teaching your 13 year olds to share their private info with any adult who says they need it?
They could have asked whoever saw it and reported her to log on and let them view the posts to make sure there was no threats posted. They could have asked mom or dad to check.
Forcing her to apologize to an adult who may have been actively bullying her was dangerous and the wrong way to handle a situation. We just had a teacher in the news who taped up kids and fed them semen. Please don't just assume this girl is wrong or lying. Maybe the monitor was mean. Maybe the monitor did dislike her.
The whole age issue is between facebook, her parents and her.
The school only had enough athority to read the post they were given for threats and talk to the girl and her parents or call the police if it really was threatening.
If an office full of people demanded private info from my kids, I would be furious.

 

[legalmania]

Did she say she was going to kill the monitor? Was she bullying the monitor? Otherwise, heck no. IMO

We've only heard one side of the story so far, so we don't know how far it went. She did use expletive the F word when asking who turned her in. The school sounds pretty confident that when all the facts come out they will prevail.

 

[prayers4missing]

I guess I am just jaded but I won't believe that the school was wrong until I hear the school's side of the story. My friends dd is 12 and she is a pathological liar. Without a doubt I can see her saying the adults treated her in a manner in which the child in this story is accusing. I can without a doubt see her mother believe her and file a lawsuit. I am jaded, because IME kids aren't always as innocent as we would like.

I also don't see a problem with my dd being in a conference room with 3 adults from the school. Let's see the principal, the counselor and the teacher. Yep I would have no problem with that situation. MOO

 

[daisy7]

We've only heard one side of the story so far, so we don't know how far it went. She did use expletive the F word when asking who turned her in. The school sounds pretty confident that when all the facts come out they will prevail.

Isn't that the standard response in a lawsuit?