US Ed Dept Demanding Principals Censor More 493
Toe, The writes "Education Department officials are threatening school principals with lawsuits if they fail to monitor and curb students' lunchtime chat and evening Facebook time for expressing ideas and words that are deemed to be harassment of some students. Under the new interpretation of civil rights laws, principals and their schools are legally liable if they fail to curb 'harassment' of students, even if it takes place outside the school, on Facebook or in private conversation. When children are concerned, where is the line between protection and censorship?"
Subject smubject! (Score:4, Interesting)
Worked in (UK) education for 7 years. I offer advice and training to teachers to introduce safeguarding and online safety into the curriculum, and so far have positive feedback. What the kids do at home, however, isn't our business.
Re:Ludicrous (Score:4, Interesting)
On the one hand we teach kids about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. On the other hand, we tell them "Hey johhny - what you say can get you in trouble if you make fun of that fat kid in the playground...
To be fair, they'll face the same thing when they get jobs and try to use facebook there.
And finally, doesn't the Dept of Ed have ANYTHING else to deal with besides this BS?
Maybe not with their budget? Saying "crack down on hate speech on facebook" probably doesn't cost as much as buying new textbooks.
Whatever happened to "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" Have we become such a bunch of pussies that we can't even deal with having people call us bad names? What ever happened to "hey - here's two pairs of boxing gloves - go behind the gym and work it out?"
Joking aside, I hear what you're saying, but TFA points out the suicide rate among gay and lesbian students is 4 times that of straight students. I'm not saying that justifies trampling on free speech off school grounds, but saying "work it out" is a little simplistic.
Re:The Land of the Free (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh yeah, kids have limited consitutional rights - especially in education.
Re:Ludicrous (Score:2, Interesting)
Consider the Source and Read the Guidelines (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh for crying out loud. This is what passes for news at lame wannabe Tucker Carlson's attempt to mimic Politico? The guidance letter was published in October 2010 and you can read it here: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html [ed.gov]
Re:The Land of the Free (Score:5, Interesting)
Not really, took over a hundred years and a bit of pretzle logic to get to that point. I expect the newer courts will wake up and realize that the ICC(interstate commerce clause) is not a catch all for whatever the govt. wants to do. See Thomas' dissent of Gonzales v. Raich.
Re:Ludicrous (Score:5, Interesting)
If kids weren't beating the fuck out of each other in school and torturing and harassing each other in school, I doubt it would be an issue outside of school, either. In a lot of these instances, the online "harassment" is merely an extension of the viciousness that is occurring inside the walls of the school eight hours a day. Perhaps they'd be less inclined to do that outside of school if they weren't allowed to get away with it *inside* of school, too. The problem is that teachers and administrators look the other way. Trouble makers get away with it and at worse are "disciplined" but kept in school. Then parents excuse it as some sort of insane right of passage or character building exercise. The parents that do take it seriously reach a roadblock when nobody else engages with them and they're forced to send their kid to a violent prison for eight hours a day with no recourse to protect them.
I remember a specific incident when I was in junior high in the 90s. There were two teachers right in front of me in the hallway and a large eight grader at the end of the hallway walked passed a small seventh grade student and in one swift motion, slammed his head directly into a wall for no reason. The kid passed out and had a concussion. The teachers didn't respond. They just kept walking and turned at the next bend in the hallway. The kid who did it was a trouble maker and had a lot of detention. Was never expelled or removed from being a threat to the rest of the school.
Unrelated, but interesting, I remember when I was in grade school and I was walking down a hallway. I was running my outstretched arm against the wall as I walked down the mostly empty hall. One of the special-ed kids was coming the other way . . . and at the last second, moved to the side and took a fucking BITE OUT OF MY ARM.
Schools are fucked up places. At no other time in my life have I been forced to surround myself with sociopaths, criminals, and the insane.