Thursday, November 01, 2012




Australia: Students suspended following comments on Facebook page

The Principal sounds rather high and mighty but the school does appear to be a rather violent one so maybe that is relevant.  Some  posts do appear to have been genuinely abusive.  Suspending students over it is pretty dubious however.  Should we not expect a school to try education instead?

To some degree what was actually said is relevant. Were there threats of violence, for instance?  It seems not.  The principal  seems to be of the view that nobody should say anything bad about anyone  -- which is clearly excessive.  There is a rather sycophantic radio interview with him here.


A GOLD Coast principal has launched a crackdown on cyber bullying, suspending any student who posts abusive messages on a school Facebook page.

Southport High School principal Steve McLuckie has suspended several students behind a series of vicious cyber attacks on the Facebook page.

The move has divided education heavyweights and the school community.  Some parents say the principal is going too far and limiting their children's right to free speech, but supporters praise Mr McLuckie for taking on "trolls".

"It is not a private page, this is a public page," he said.  "The comments are inappropriate and will not be tolerated. If you are going to be inappropriate, then we will take action.  "Bullying and harassment will simply not be tolerated, and we stand by that."

"We, as a society, do not put up with anyone putting people down and belittling them," he said.  "As a society we do not accept that, and we are trying to educate and train students to be a part of that society."

One mother, who asked not to be named, had two students at the Southport school and said they had a right to free speech.  "They haven't done anything wrong. They have posted on a Facebook site - so what," she said.  "They have accessed the site in their own time. The school has no right to punish my children for what they do in their own time.  "That's my job. The school is out of line."

SOURCE


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but you get no sympathy from me here IF the students posted on the SCHOOL'S Facebook page. This is no different from posting on a school bulletin board or a school wall. BUT if the student(s) posted on their own PERSONAL Facebook page(s) then the school should have ZERO jurisdiction.

This is an EDUCATION issue. People are simply not being taught personal responsibility and accountability.

Bird of Paradise said...

The principal is a bully who needs suspended indefenetly

Anonymous said...

1:19 is correct and 'Bird of P' is wrong. School kids are getting away with far too much atavistic bad behavior under cover of current society's misunderstanding of "free speech". Children are not adults expressing political freedom, they should be in school to learn and be in a disciplined environment, both by the teachers and at home by the parents. Regrettably today the parents are as undisciplined as their offspring, and teachers are scared of lawsuits by the compensation-hungry parents; and of course lawyers feed on litigious action from any side!

Anonymous said...

anon 1:19

They did NOT post on the schools FB page, they posted on their OWN page, so you argument is moot!

Anonymous said...

I would agree with the notion of the school to stay out of personnal sights. But the victum parenets or the victum should sue the bully's parents for harasment and slander. Free speech comes with a responsibility and price, so does raising a spoiled brat for the parents!

Anonymous said...

Who's the bigger bully?

1) An aggressive driver who cuts in front of you and slams on their breaks? or

2) The driver who flips off driver #1

Soon there will be a "bully scale" developed by a new cabinet department, "The Department of We Know Whats Good For You"

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:52, learn to read, you blind fuck. If the page was NOT school-sanctioned or owned, then the school has ZERO jurisdiction. But the fact still remains that most of today's youth have not been taught basic respect. And that is the fault of the PARENTS.

Stand out from the rest by standing as a man of integrity.

Go Away Bird said...

The leftists NEA wants to control the lives of pupils even at their homes BEWARE