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

[Velouria]

The girl claims she felt that one of the school's adult hall monitors was picking on her, so she wrote on her Facebook wall that she hated the monitor because she was mean.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ff-gives-Facebook-password.html#ixzz1p2A3DDDi
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Wow. Talk about incendiary.

I hope someone alerted Homeland Security. :giggle:

 

[legalmania]

YES.

Why weren't this girl's parents contacted and brought in to meet with administrators before calling in LE to intimidate her?

Obviously the parents are more interested in money then their child's behavior, this is her third violation. Three strikes your out.

 

[prayers4missing]

However, it's MY business to monitor her online activities, and NOT within the purview of school administrators.

BUT that is the problem, a lot of parents these days don't monitor what their kid does. It is being left up to the school, unless of course mom and dad can make a buck from it. I have a feeling that the school found out about these postings because someone complained about them to the school. I have one of daughters friends on my facebook page. Not to long ago another little girl from school (who is a bully) posted some really horrible things on her FB page. The next day I emailed the principal with a screen shot. MOO

 

[legalmania]

That doesn't sound like a threat. It sounds like a complaint. Or a statement of fact.

The girl seems paranoid to me, the adult monitor doesn't like me she's picking on me. Everyone plays it down until someone gets hurt. Eric and Dillion were just two messed up kids that everyone picked on. Until they brought guns and bombs to school.

 

[annalia]

I'm torn with this.

Fiirst of all she shouldn't be on facebook. Second, with these school shootings and threats of school violence that we keep hearing about, it seems schools just don't know how to handle things anymore.

Sounds like the school overreacted.

I don't agree with the parent suing, seems we sue over everything nowadays, but I don't understand why the school didn't start with bringing in the parents regarding this?

 

[Velouria]

The girl seems paranoid to me, the adult monitor doesn't like me she's picking on me. Everyone plays it down until someone gets hurt. Eric and Dillion were just two messed up kids that everyone picked on. Until they brought guns and bombs to school.

I don't think it's the girl who's paranoid.

Dylan and Eric weren't picked on - but they were messed-up, and had troubling criminal and psychiatric histories. It's a HUGE leap to go from saying "I hate Mrs. So-and-So" to plotting a mass murder, IMO.

 

[sherbetjello]

If we let this stuff fly, we are going to wake up helpless years from now. I understand she is 12, but the school is not a legal guardian. I hope this family sues, wins and leaves a valuable impression for the next persons thinking this is okay.

 

[angelmom]

The girl seems paranoid to me, the adult monitor doesn't like me she's picking on me. Everyone plays it down until someone gets hurt. Eric and Dillion were just two messed up kids that everyone picked on. Until they brought guns and bombs to school.

Really? Comparing two almost-adults who TOLD multiple people they were going to shoot up the school with a little girl who thinks the monitor is mean?

Thinking a teacher/adult is mean is not paranoid. Often it's pretty darned accurate.

I agree that this child had no business on facebook, and I agree that her parents should have dealt with that (taking away internet access would have been the first punishment!), but why was a deputy sheriff dealing with this nonsense? Do they not have actual crimes to solve?

I have an almost 12yo girl, and she would be hysterical if she thought the police were called because of her. She had nightmares for a week after a piece of paper flew out our open car window and her brothers told her that littering was illegal. She thought she was going to jail!

If what she wrote rose to the level of needing law enforcement, then the parents should absolutely have been notified AND present. AFAIK, LE isn't allowed to question a minor without parental notification and permission, even at school. THAT's what I would be furious about.

 

[tlcya]

I don't know that I agree with the parents suing either, but I sure do agree with them raising a stink about the situation and unfortunately lawsuit is often the quickest way to achieve a big stink.

I agree with posters who say the child had no business on facebook in the first place.

I also agree that many parents do not parent to the point where they are as aware of their childrens' activities and behaviors as they should be.

The child apparently expressed a dislike for a hall monitor. This is not earth shattering. No threats were made, the girl wasn't threatening to take out said hall monitor or any of her classmates so I really am very confused as to how school justified involving law enforcement in this matter.

As a parent, if I were told my child had been interogated by school AND/OR law enforcement officials without my being notified and given the opportunity to be present during, you can bet my behind would have been livid. Big Time!

The school's reaction was out of line, punative, and not saftey minded as some suggest IMO

 

[sherbetjello]

A 12 year old has no business with a Facebook account period.

I agree, but this isn't about the girl and her parents, aka legal guardians. This is about an entity, the school, and this girl.

I thinks it's best to keep this story the outline it is given, cause if not we could be sending the message it's okay for a school, or anyone else, to make the choice of logging in to anyones account (if they are underage).

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Donjeta]

For now she's just a child who got in trouble over some posts on Facebook; based on what we know there is no call to be comparing her to school shooters.

Please. What we say could hurt her.

 

[Kat]

I see this as two seperate issues.

One issue: a 12 yr old girl has a facebook page.

The seperate issue is that this child was allegedly taken to an office where there was more than one adult (to include a local deputy) and that child felt "intimidated, frightened and humiliated" by those adults while in that room.

My questions are:

1. Why wasn't the Mother (or primary caregiver) contacted before this interview and search of the child's electronic messages?

2. If the school felt there was a threat of some sort and contacted LE (did they? exactly who was this deputy?) then why not let LE conduct the investigation? If there was a perceived threat then it should be investigated by LE and let LE determine if it is valid or not?

If it turns out that the allegations are true then yes I think this young ladie's rights were violated. If I were the parent that had a child that this happened to then I would feel my parental rights were violated.

This article is reporting:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/11/minnesota-girl-facebook-password_n_1337712.html

"because of allegations that she had online conversations about sex with another student off-campus."

It doesn't matter if she had a facebook page, if she posted something online that was or could be perceived as a threat then an investigation should have been done by the appropriate officials in the appropriate way. This is about how she was treated by employees of the school district and a deputy. (What is the law there? Can local LE interview a child of 12 without a parent being present?).

I taught my kids that if they are stopped by LE then they are to very politely tell LE that their Mother told them that she would like to be present if they want to speak with them. And that I will be more than happy to come to the Police Department to do so. I told them if they transport them to the Police station to not be afraid I will be down there as soon as possible and I will sit with them while they tell LE whatever LE wants to know.

But I don't have all the facts about this case. But I do see this as two seperate issues. JMHO

 

[annalia]

My kids are all grown but I can't count how many times at some point one of my kids said they hated such and such teacher or a teacher was mean. I know in this case it was a hall monitor but not much difference.

I could see if she said she hated her and wanted to kill her or hoped the teacher would die, but it's really hard to believe that a middle schooler saying they hated a teacher/hall monitor because the person was mean is shocking to those school officials, so much so that LE needs to be brought in instead of a family meeting.

And maybe that hall monitor was mean.

 

[legalmania]

This girl was not humiliated because according to the article she continues to post after the fact.
"She was in trouble again shortly thereafter for another Facebook post, which asked who turned her in, using an expletive for effect. She was given in school suspension and missed a class ski trip.
In the third incident, according to the complaint, R.S. was called in by school officials after the guardian of another student complained that R.S. had had a conversation about sex on Facebook."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ff-gives-Facebook-password.html#ixzz1p2PPpyqu
​

 

[prayers4missing]

What are we going to do about parents who continue to let their children ignore the rules? This girl was called into the office on 2 previous occassions, I don't believe that her parents didn't know this was happening. Schools are critized for not protecting the kids when a shooting happens, but when they do punish a child we call them out on that. The fact is that we do not have the whole story here. MOO

 

[Donjeta]

This girl was not humiliated because according to the article she continues to post after the fact.
She was in trouble again shortly thereafter for another Facebook post, which asked who turned her in, using an expletive for effect. She was given in school suspension and missed a class ski trip.
In the third incident, according to the complaint, R.S. was called in by school officials after the guardian of another student complained that R.S. had had a conversation about sex on Facebook.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ff-gives-Facebook-password.html#ixzz1p2PPpyqu
​

According to my understanding your quote refers to a time after she had had detention because the principal got a screenshot of a message she had posted. The interrogation in which she was forced to give up her password took place after the third incident referred to above.

The article you quoted says nothing about whether she continues to post on FB.

Sure hope she changed her password if she does.

 

[menmo]

The girl claims she felt that one of the school's adult hall monitors was picking on her, so she wrote on her Facebook wall that she hated the monitor because she was mean.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ff-gives-Facebook-password.html#ixzz1p2A3DDDi
​

Even if the child is talking about an adult at the school in a negative way?

They overstepped their bounds. I seriously doubt that they were looking out more for the girl than the hall monitor. I also doubt that this is the first child that has said this about someone being mean in the school. What were they planning? Were they going to beat down all the kids until they gave up their FB passwords. Her privacy was violated in a terrible way! Her parents dropped her at the school to learn, not be bullied, especially by an adult.
I hope they win the lawsuit. I have never brought suit against anyone except in divorce, but this all has to stop somewhere. The schools, the government, dang!

MOO

 

[annalia]

What are we going to do about parents who continue to let their children ignore the rules? This girl was called into the office on 2 previous occassions, I don't believe that her parents didn't know this was happening. Schools are critized for not protecting the kids when a shooting happens, but when they do punish a child we call them out on that. The fact is that we do not have the whole story here. MOO

Just jumping off your post.

This is why I'm so torn about this, schools really have taken on and have to deal with much more than they used to.

But just thinking about what she actually did, what school rules did she break?

When did it become against school rules for a student to say that a teacher or school employee was mean, or that they hated them, especially when the student wasn't in school at the time?

Kids saying these things isn't anything new, the problem is technology, before kids would say it among their friends, or on the phone, now everything is on Facebook and online.

Do schools really have the right to monitor every single thing a student says when they're out of school, if what they say isn't threatening?

 

[legalmania]

According to my understanding your quote refers to a time after she had had detention because the principal got a screenshot of a message she had posted. The interrogation in which she was forced to give up her password took place after the third incident referred to above.

The article you quoted says nothing about whether she continues to post on FB.

Sure hope she changed her password if she does.

This was taken directly out of the article, it says this happened after the incident and she continues to post. I have a feeling this little girl is a trouble maker and I am sure the judge will see right through her. The court will probable recommend counseling, which I think the whole family needs. JMO.

 

[LadyL]

how many other students are saying the same things or worse? but because they haven't stated it online or because no one is monitoring their FB pages or interrogating them for their passwords, they're exempt ...

at face value, this situation is ridiculous and the parents should sue (& I'm pretty anti-lawsuit) BUT I think it's probable that school administrators have reasons to be concerned and didn't feel like they were getting anywhere with previous discipline attempts or contact with parents

problem is they screwed up HUGE - no way is it right for three adults (with law enforcement) to intimidate a 12 year-old girl, regardless of how they view her behaviour

I hope the lawsuit forces the school to review/improve their procedures and I hope the girl gets the help she (most likely) needs