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High Schooler Avoids Suspension Over Facebook Comment

Posted: Feb 2, 2011

Think he should have been suspended anyway?

http://www.switched.com/2011/02/01/a...3_lnk3%7C40724

A California teenager who called his teacher a "fat ***" on Facebook has avoided punishment from his high school, thanks to the ACLU.

In December, 10th-grader Donny Dunlap received an unusually large amount of homework from his biology teacher, so he decided to vent about it on Facebook. In a status update, the teen announced that the teacher is a "fat *** who should stop eating fast food, and is a douche bag." A fellow student saw the status, and brought it to the attention of the school's principal. The vice principal contacted Donny at home, asked him to remove the status, and to personally apologize to the biology teacher. The 15-year-old complied, but the saga didn't end there. Later on in the day, Dunlap was called into the principal's office, and informed that he would be suspended for one day for cyberbullying. And that's where the ACLU got involved.

After being contacted by the Dunlaps, ACLU attorney Linda Lye sent a letter to the high school, in Donny's defense. In the letter, Lye pointed out that the Constitution explicitly "bars schools from disciplining students for speech, unless the speech creates a material and substantial disruption of the school environment." Dunlap's status update, she argued, clearly didn't result in any such disruption, and it didn't even explicitly threaten the teacher. Punishing him, then, would put the school system at risk of running into a lawsuit.

Ultimately, the San Juan Unified School District agreed with Lye's assessment, and removed the suspension from Dunlap's record. His mother, Kristina, agreed that Donny's comments were inappropriate, but agreed that they certainly weren't grounds for school punishment. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, Dunlap argued that her son "was just venting like the rest of us used to do, sitting on the grass at lunchtime. Students will always talk about their teachers."

;

I think - cindy

[ In Reply To ..]
that students need to learn that what they put on the Web is a permanent record. There are many people who lose their jobs over Facebook comments and the younger they learn this the better. I know I would complain about my teachers on occasion to my friends during lunch or after school, etc. but never was disrespectful like this but kids now-a-days have to understand that they are not just talking to one or even a few friends, they are putting it out there for the world.

Also, I can see the school's side of it too. One day a student is calling a teacher a fat*** and a month later, they could be coming to school with a gun and shooting the place up. The school has to take actions to protect the school employees and students and promote the proper environment. I think the student's history needs to be taken into consideration and if they have been a trouble maker, they definitely need the suspension but if this is a first time offense for a kid that is usually good and seems stable, maybe detension would have been more appropriate. You do not want to ruin the record of a basically good kid, but you do have to send a message that this is not acceptable.

I wonder if the student had seen the teacher - curious

[ In Reply To ..]
in public and made these comments to his face, would the school be able to take action? How can the school punish a student for something done off school grounds and not during school hours?

I'm not saying the student's actions were politically correct, but I think the school may have overstepped its bounds and for once, I'm glad the ACLU did get involved.

Facebook/Suspension - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not saying it was the right thing to do, it's one thing to make a comment like that to a friend conversationally but to post it publically was inappropriate. The student who tattled probably needs to watch their back from now on, although I'm sure they're one of the teacher's/principal's favorites. I think the day of suspension was appropriate, I don't think the ACLU needed to get involved.

I normally hate the ACLU, but... - Kendra

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree with them on this one. Inappropriate thing to post, probably, but certainly not detention worthy. If the teacher were a friend of the student on FB and intended to see it, maybe, but while it was in bad taste, I do not believe that it is the schools job to monitor FB. The principal should have pointed out the comment to the student's parents and let them handle it as they felt appropriate.

I agree with Kendra, but I got detention for a lot less. - What I would do.

[ In Reply To ..]
If I were that kid's mother, he would wish a 1-day suspension was all he got. After his being grounded at home, restricted from using the computer except for schoolwork, I would have taken him to school and made him apologize in a very sincere manner to this teacher in front of other students.

Some parents are too quick to rush to their child's defense when their child is in the wrong. It teaches them nothing but more negative behavior and how to get by with it.

I do agree that it is not the school's place to monitor FB, but this kid needs to be taught a valuable lesson with the parents and the school cooperating with each other.

I actually meants suspension worthy... - Kendra

[ In Reply To ..]
not detention. I mis-typed. Detention, I could see. If he were my son, he would be a in a heap of trouble, but I don't think that suspension from school is really in order.

But what about sponge worthy? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Censorship is censorship, whether a kid on Facebook - or by an MTSO on MTStars. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
My employer has been trying to censor what we say on Facebook and MT Stars. Too bad for them! I say what I want, when and where I want.

If the companies and the teachers don't want people saying negative things about them, maybe they should stop being such big, fat a-holes.

no, it's not - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Free speech does not mean you can say anything to anyone at anytime. There are laws in a civil society.

Is it censorship that you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater? No, it's not - it's dangerous. Is it censorship that you can't say something like you have a bomb while you are on an airplane? No, it's not - it's stupid.

I can't take an ad on TV or radio and tell the world that my neighbor is a sex offender if he's not, and then claim censorship when he sues me for slander/liable.

So...go ahead and say what you want and when and want to say it...just be careful. I'm just saying.

Playing Devil's Advocate - just a little - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
First of all, let me say I think the kid was wrong, and I agree with the initial "punishment" of him removing the comment and apologizing to the teacher. All of us have the right to vent, but he needed to also learn the appropriate place/time/way to do so and posting on the Internet probably wasn't the best idea. Lesson learned.

BUT, I have to wonder what the public reaction would have been if the teacher had Facebook'd something about the kid...

I can imagine a much worse scenario for the teacher than a slap on the wrist and a 1-day suspension...

My question is - Fair? Is the teacher held to a higher standard because of his/her age? His/her position? Or is it just a double standard?

I've gone back and forth on that in my own mind today -- just throwing it out for discussion.

Well, yes, of course the teacher is held to a higher standard because of age - ever hear of the juvenile court system

[ In Reply To ..]
.

And position, I think... - Kendra

[ In Reply To ..]
There are some professions that you can go into and act like a total POS, but if you are in a profession where it is your job to be a role model, you need to act like one, not like one of your students.

whatever happened to - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
respect for teachers? I'm no huge fan of teachers (long story), but this just shows a lack of respect for teachers and/or women. Just saying something like, "oh, what's the big deal, they all do it anyway," certainly doesn't make it right. If it my kid, I'd insist on the suspension and he would have to make an in-person apology to the teacher. And he probably wouldn't have any social networking for the rest of his high school career.

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