Tuesday, February 02, 2010



School says it can punish students for what they write at home

We read:
"Students from Roxboro Road Middle School will begin the last of their three-day after school detention Monday, after administrators in the school district punished them for being part of a Facebook group. The page, which has now been removed, criticized a teacher at the school to the point where the superintendent said the comments were libelous.

But by disciplining the students, communication law specialists say the school violated students’ free speech rights.

“Maybe it's offensive, maybe there are bad words, but they are ideas that students have a right to have , especially if they're doing it in their spare time at home,” Syracuse University Professor of Communications Law Roy Gutterman said.

Source

The "libel" claim sounds hysterical. If the content was in fact libelous that should have been tested in court. Truth is a defense.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe if the pussy parents would start acting like adults and kick their precious little darlings out into the yard to play like kids should instead of sitting like zombies in front of their computers, this wouldn't be an issue.

Anonymous said...

Don't be in such a rush to take this to the courts either. Knowing how high schools kids think I'd guess that the content was highly libelous as charged.

High School is a place where kids can learn and one of the things they need to learn is that actions have consequences and allowing yourself to get caught up in a mob (virtual mob in this case) is not a good thing to do.

I think the real problem here is the cheesy dad who isn't allowing his daughter to "participate" in the detention. He sounds like one of the "my kid can do no wrong" idiots who has never disciplined his child and has essentially raised a sociopath. I would guess even that his behavior is an indication that his daughter was either a prime instigator or a major offender.

Anonymous said...

If a teacher pulled the same stunt in reverse on the students, the teacher not only could be fired they could be jailed. But for students it's free speech?

Who's losing out on the free speech here?

Anonymous said...

The content of the comments is irrelevant. What is relevant is that these kids have "a constitutionally protected right" to speak freely, just like the people who run these state controlled indoctrination camps have. Try telling one of the socialist teachers they can't speak freely. Or, try curtailing the speech of their communist unions.

And Anon 2:15, it's pretty clear you either have no children of your own, or perhaps, you're a teacher. Either way, you obviously have some "issues" to deal with.

Nazi Hunter said...

If the teacher felt the comments were libelous, (a personal injury) why didn't he/she/it hire an attorney and take legal action against the students involved?

What right, and by what authority, can school "authorities" (see: fascist political hacks) decide who should have free speech, and to what degree, especially when that speech takes place away from the school environment?

This is, in fact, a case of the state (school employees) limiting free speech simply because they don't like it.

Anonymous said...

But by disciplining the students, communication law specialists say the school violated students’ free speech rights.

"Maybe it's offensive, maybe there are bad words, but they are ideas that students have a right to have , especially if they're doing it in their spare time at home,”
Syracuse University Professor of Communications Law Roy Gutterman.

Anonymous said...

So a school is punishing ALL students for something a few of them did outside the jurisdiction of the school, something that's actually legal, and people defend that?

A. Teacher said...

As horrified as this particular case should make all freedom-loving people feel, keep in mind that this type of conduct on the part of school "officials" is quietly going on all over the country disguised as "education".

How can they get away with it? Simple. They rely on parents being too busy, too lazy, too distracted, or too stupid. It's been working for a long time.

Anonymous said...

IT SHOULD BE FREE SPEECH FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. THERE IS A BILL OF RIGHT,WELL USED TO BE IN OBAMA'S AMERIKA.

We The People said...

Teachers, protected by their unions, are free to desseminate their Marxist and Communist propaganda, but kids aren't free to speak in private?

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

It's time!

Anonymous said...

God Bless America, and pass the ammo please.

Anonymous said...

If the content is libelous, then the teacher can take the kids to court. If not, there is no crime. Either way, it's not in the school's jurisdiction to punish the kids. If the school tried to punish my son for behavior that happened outside of school I would fight it. However, I would find other, more appropriate consequences for him. He wouldn't get away with it, but the school has no right to punish him.