Student suspended for Facebook post

[mdrummer5]

How is her permanent record ruined?

She can explain to the college or university how her school treated her unfairly when she threated to kill her teacher - I’m sure they’ll understand.

Wishing someone would die is not a threat. I’m not saying it’s right or a good thing to do as it’s obviously not but it’s not the same thing as saying “I’m going to kill my teacher”.

As LemonAndLime pointed out they had no way to judge her tone (the problem with any form of communication that isn’t vocal) but IMO that means they should’ve talked to her about it to find out why she said it.

On the other hand (I’m not sure if the article states it as I can’t access it at work) we don’t know about any past history. Is the girl a straight A student with a spotless record? Or is this just another incident in a long line of other disciplinary problems? If it’s the first then I’m sorry she deserves a little bit of leniency.

 

[SamH]

On the other hand (I’m not sure if the article states it as I can’t access it at work) we don’t know about any past history. Is the girl a straight A student with a spotless record? Or is this just another incident in a long line of other disciplinary problems? If it’s the first then I’m sorry she deserves a little bit of leniency.

Then she’ll a learn from this lesson even though her mother appears to bound and determined to prevent this teachable moment.

 

[brgregmack]

You could say the same thing about us here in the USA. Plenty of abortions and practical atheism.

But there are plenty of things that are good in both countries, such as Wimbledon in the UK, and Thanksgiving here.

 

[mdrummer5]

Then she’ll a learn from this lesson even though her mother appears to bound and determined to prevent this teachable moment.

I think that’s the sad part… she’ll learn something all right but given that her mom is acting the way she is I doubt it will be positive. If she (mom) were to use this as an opportunity to explain to her that if your words aren’t pure (and nobody’s are ALL the time) then you have to be careful with how you communicate them then that’d be great. But sadly I’m sure she’s going to say it’s wrong and it’s a violation of freedom of speech (as I’m sure that’s been said at some point) which IMO does nothing more than avoid teaching her the one caveat of our 1st amendment. Sure you can say whatever you want… but you may suffer consequences administered by people who have authority over you. I can tell my boss that I think he’s stupid and has no business holding the position he has (which is untrue) but I’m fairly sure I’d get in trouble for that.

The daughter’s actions are regrettable, but mom’s just serve as another reminder that common sense isn’t so common.

 

[Soldier_Of_God]

I think that’s the sad part… she’ll learn something all right but given that her mom is acting the way she is I doubt it will be positive.

I agree that is the most likely outcome is that she will learn the wrong message.

 

[Charlotte408]

Well as far as kids being kids and saying things without thinking about the consequences, my Daughter used to say:

‘I wish I was dead’ if something wasn’t going her way or ‘I’m gonna kill you’ sarcastically if I was doing something she thought was bothersome but funny in someway.

Even if it was while she was laughing, if I ever heard her say ‘die’ or ‘kill’ - I’d stop convo right there and then, step the level up to a serious note, and we talked about the severity of those words. You don’t play with them.She’s 7 and she’s already stopped.

If this kid is 13 and still mouthin’ off carelessly about wanting people’s lives to end, well, I think that says alot about this person’s parenting style. That and the fact the Mom is still trying to keep her Daughter from accepting any responsibility. If the mom allowed it at a younger age and maybe didn’t address it because ‘oh she’s just a kid’ - wouldn’t she now - after all this mess, realize that it* is *an issue, her Daughter is of an age where it should be addressed?? This woman must be delusional.

 

[estesbob]

This is amazing!

A girl posts on Facebook about wishing for her teacher to die. Obviously she gets caught and suspended for three days. Now she is on CNN with mommy complaining on how people should not judge her because they do not know her and that the parents of some ex-friends are meanies for saying that she is a bad example. In the meantime the mom puts the blame on the principal. Guess from whom the girl learned her sense of lack of accountability for her actions? By the way she went to school well after her suspension and she did not answer to the question why she waited so long to go back.

cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/05/20/drew.facebook.suspension.hln?hpt=C2

Next in the news, a school district gets sued for millions because they were unfair to a poor little mama’s girl.

We are a Nation of “Victims”

 

[Cider]

It’s amazing what qualifies as news these days.

 

[bellasbane]

It is a big deal because the mother brings the daughter to CNN with the intent to justify a stupid behavior and blaming all the fuss on the principal. A three day suspension is not a big deal. The big deal is the the behavior of the mother and the example that she gives to the daughter. If she were my child I would have said no to any news channel and if she happened to be on the news the only comment that she would have been authorized to make is an apology to the teacher. I think that this is a woman seeking public attention at the emotional expense of her already troubled daughter.

In our town, the fact of a suspension is kept confidential by school authorities. The child and parents know, but nobody else does. Parents are free to make up any excuse they like as to why their child was “missing” from school for three days. I know this, because my friend’s son had the “flu” for three days and I only found out later (from her) what had really happened.

He didn’t loose any friends or suffer any social consequences from being disciplined. As a 13 year old middle-school student the suspension doesn’t affect his school record in any way. This mother should have done what my friend did - let her child take her punishment in private, learn from her mistake, and then moved on.

I encounter parents like this all the time - they believe they are acting out of love for their child, when really they are acting out of selfish pride. I would never put my baby girl (now 13) through something like this interview, and when she cries I put my arms around her and comfort her (even when she’s crying because she thinks I’m being unfair - which is quite often).

 

[Cristiano]

Wishing someone would die is not a threat. I’m not saying it’s right or a good thing to do as it’s obviously not but it’s not the same thing as saying “I’m going to kill my teacher”…

Post that on your Facebook account and substitute teacher with POTUS and you will get the secret service at your door within 24 hours. After that tell me that it is not considered a threat.

 

[WoundedIcon]

Here’s a pivotal question: for what reason was the principal on her Facebook page?

And no, you don’t ruin someone’s permanent record over this kind of stuff… and this will due to zero tolerance policies. I myself got expelled over a figure of speech, with the girl it was supposedly against AND the principal not even being alarmed about it. Her arm was bent by protocol. Heck, the principal thought it was all stupid. I liked her - the other staff were pretty stupid. Like how I got harassed in class one day by a bunch of popular-type girls and walked out. The teacher called home about it and I answered but he thought I was my father, so I caught him telling “my dad” total bull about it. He found out later from me that it was me on the other end that day and just went silent.

Teachers can be horrible. I was having a mental breakdown ninth through tenth grade and no one helped me get treatment. Heck, most of the time they ignored me, talked down to me, yelled at me, or penalized me after SEEING me get bullied. Let me play my card… I have PTSD now. Yes, it can be THAT BAD. I spent years deathly afraid of other people. I couldn’t go to McDonald’s drive-through without practically shaking, and it takes the maximum allowed dose of Paxil to stop me from wigging out. OK, pity party example over.

Oh, and also, we’re talking about a person not some “child thing” with human characteristics. Try to be a bit more charitable.

 

[mdrummer5]

Post that on your Facebook account and substitute teacher with POTUS and you will get the secret service at your door within 24 hours. After that tell me that it is not considered a threat.

First of all… nowhere NEAR the same thing. Second of all wishing death upon anyone while morally wrong is not a threat. Period. Making that statement about the POTUS is of course going to have the secret service on your door but you’re talking about what they perceive as a threat not what actually constitutes one (which is intent). If the school honestly thought it was a genuine threat, if they believed that this girl intended to try to make this happen do you really think they’d have stopped at a 3 day suspension? I’m not saying the punishment was wrong or right as again I don’t know the full story… this is just a matter of semantics.

Saying that we want something to happen is not the same thing as saying we’re going to make it happen. I want to win the lottery… but I don’t play it.

Here’s a pivotal question: for what reason was the principal on her Facebook page?

And no, you don’t ruin someone’s permanent record over this kind of stuff… and this will due to zero tolerance policies. I myself got expelled over a figure of speech, with the girl it was supposedly against AND the principal not even being alarmed about it. Her arm was bent by protocol. Heck, the principal thought it was all stupid. I liked her - the other staff were pretty stupid. Like how I got harassed in class one day by a bunch of popular-type girls and walked out. The teacher called home about it and I answered but he thought I was my father, so I caught him telling “my dad” total bull about it. He found out later from me that it was me on the other end that day and just went silent.

Teachers can be horrible. I was having a mental breakdown ninth through tenth grade and no one helped me get treatment. Heck, most of the time they ignored me, talked down to me, yelled at me, or penalized me after SEEING me get bullied. Let me play my card… I have PTSD now. Yes, it can be THAT BAD. I spent years deathly afraid of other people. I couldn’t go to McDonald’s drive-through without practically shaking, and it takes the maximum allowed dose of Paxil to stop me from wigging out. OK, pity party example over.

Oh, and also, we’re talking about a person not some “child thing” with human characteristics. Try to be a bit more charitable.

It doesn’t matter why anyone was on her facebook page… it very well could’ve gotten back to the principle via word of mouth but regardless of that it’s PUBLIC. If you post something about someone else in a public media that literally millions of people have access to then you need to be aware of the possible repercussions of what you post. I would imagine that somewhere someone has responded t that with “but she’s only 13…” which is all the more reason her mom should be using this as an opportunity to teach her that lesson instead of having her play the victim.

While your experience is unfortunate it is very abnormal and has no bearing on this situation. As none of us are privy to all of the details we have no ability to judge one way or the other how this should or shouldn’t effect the child’s record. Sure it’s possible that the teacher or principle just “had it out” for her but do you know that? No. Not only that if that were the case that’s all the more reason she shouldn’t have posted something like that on a publich webpage giving the “big bad teacher” a way to “keep her down”. You’re trying to judge a situation that you’re not involved in based on your own previous experience. You can’t objectively assess any situation that way.

 

[jfmarm81]

Well as far as kids being kids and saying things without thinking about the consequences, my Daughter used to say:

‘I wish I was dead’ if something wasn’t going her way or ‘I’m gonna kill you’ sarcastically if I was doing something she thought was bothersome but funny in someway.

Even if it was while she was laughing, if I ever heard her say ‘die’ or ‘kill’ - I’d stop convo right there and then, step the level up to a serious note, and we talked about the severity of those words. You don’t play with them.She’s 7 and she’s already stopped.

If this kid is 13 and still mouthin’ off carelessly about wanting people’s lives to end, well, I think that says alot about this person’s parenting style. That and the fact the Mom is still trying to keep her Daughter from accepting any responsibility. If the mom allowed it at a younger age and maybe didn’t address it because ‘oh she’s just a kid’ - wouldn’t she now - after all this mess, realize that it* is *an issue, her Daughter is of an age where it should be addressed?? This woman must be delusional.

I agree with you 1000%. I am more upset that the the mom seems to think this ok behavior than the child saying it. When I was a kid, if I said anything remotely like this…boom- Mom and Dad were there to tell me I was wrong. And you know what? I was wrong alot as a child about alot of things. That’s how I became a good, smart adult. Same thing with my kids-my oldest is almost 4 and doesn’t say anything like what this girl said, but when he says something wrong, I’m right there to correct him.
I absolutely dislike the prevelant attitude among most Americans that you should be friends with your child. My son tells me I’m his best friend, and in a way, I am. I am the person he plays with and watches tv with, or the one he reads books with. But I am his father first, and he knows that if he does something wrong, Dad will be there to correct him. I am glad to see other parents who still know and act as parents. Unfortunately, the mom in this news story doesn’t seem to be one of them…