What is the name of your state? Maryland
My daughter is a 13 year old 8th grader at a private christian school. She is an average student academically but has never had any type of behavior problems nor has she ever done anything to break any school rules. She is very well liked in her small school by both teachers and students alike. She has received the "good citizenship" award several years in a row for her display of peer mediation as well as her actually "living" the word of the gospels.
Now that I have given you some background concerning my daughter, please let me ask for advice concerning an incident that happened this week.
My daughter has a my-space account. Her account has approximately 42 people listed as her "friends" who receive posting that she creates or forwards. Several of these "friends" are students from school and one is a teacher from the school. My daughter had received a "chain letter" from another friend from a different school. The chain letter had a body that said something like "Wow. You opened it. Now you must forward this to 10 friends and you will have good luck with relationships. If you don't forward it, you will have back luck for the next 10 years.....etc. (on that same note). At the end of the body of the letter, it instructs the next person to "send as subject: (your school) teacher was arrested 4 rape". The object was to create an eye-catching subject line to lead your friends to open the my-space mail you were sending. My daughter was very irresponsible and acting without thinking she posted on her bulliten, which goes out to her 42 friends but is otherwise inaccessible as it is marked "private", the chain letter with the subject line "Mr. _last name of her teacher__ was arrested 4 rape" - except the _____ was actually my daughter's teacher's last name which I, of course, have intentionally left blank. This was done on my home computer during the weekend. On Monday morning when my daughter and I arrived at school, the principal instructed us to come to his office, where he showed me the chain mail with the subject line. The teacher listed as one of her friends had seen the posting and showed it to the principal. My daughter was very remorseful when it was explained the consequences this could have had on the teacher's reputation. She did not intend to hurt anyone and she was in no way trying to be malicious. However, to make a long story short, her punishment was.....
1. She was made to visit the seventh and eighth grade class rooms and stand in front of the classes admitting that she lied about the teacher and that she was very sorry. The principal then told the classes that she would be suspended for five days from school.
2. She was suspended from school for five days on the grounds of defamation and harassment of a teacher.
When I asked about the severity of the punishment, the principal informed me that my daughter and I were LUCKY HE WASN'T EXPELLING HER. He also said that he was suspending her for two reasons....first, that this would teacher her a valuable lesson, and second, that it would show the other students the zero tolerance for this type of situation.
I feel my daughter was used as an example. I feel she was punished harshly by the school. I, personally, felt it appropriate to punish her from use of the internet as well she was forced to deleter her my-space account. Here are my questions:
1. Was the school within its rights to punish her at all? Or did the matter effect the teacher, my daughter and myself only?
2. Could teacher have right to persue legal acation personally (without school involvement)?
3. Do I have any rights or recourse at this point? We are already 2 days into the suspension.
ANY HELP OR ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE ASK.
THANK YOU.
My daughter is a 13 year old 8th grader at a private christian school. She is an average student academically but has never had any type of behavior problems nor has she ever done anything to break any school rules. She is very well liked in her small school by both teachers and students alike. She has received the "good citizenship" award several years in a row for her display of peer mediation as well as her actually "living" the word of the gospels.
Now that I have given you some background concerning my daughter, please let me ask for advice concerning an incident that happened this week.
My daughter has a my-space account. Her account has approximately 42 people listed as her "friends" who receive posting that she creates or forwards. Several of these "friends" are students from school and one is a teacher from the school. My daughter had received a "chain letter" from another friend from a different school. The chain letter had a body that said something like "Wow. You opened it. Now you must forward this to 10 friends and you will have good luck with relationships. If you don't forward it, you will have back luck for the next 10 years.....etc. (on that same note). At the end of the body of the letter, it instructs the next person to "send as subject: (your school) teacher was arrested 4 rape". The object was to create an eye-catching subject line to lead your friends to open the my-space mail you were sending. My daughter was very irresponsible and acting without thinking she posted on her bulliten, which goes out to her 42 friends but is otherwise inaccessible as it is marked "private", the chain letter with the subject line "Mr. _last name of her teacher__ was arrested 4 rape" - except the _____ was actually my daughter's teacher's last name which I, of course, have intentionally left blank. This was done on my home computer during the weekend. On Monday morning when my daughter and I arrived at school, the principal instructed us to come to his office, where he showed me the chain mail with the subject line. The teacher listed as one of her friends had seen the posting and showed it to the principal. My daughter was very remorseful when it was explained the consequences this could have had on the teacher's reputation. She did not intend to hurt anyone and she was in no way trying to be malicious. However, to make a long story short, her punishment was.....
1. She was made to visit the seventh and eighth grade class rooms and stand in front of the classes admitting that she lied about the teacher and that she was very sorry. The principal then told the classes that she would be suspended for five days from school.
2. She was suspended from school for five days on the grounds of defamation and harassment of a teacher.
When I asked about the severity of the punishment, the principal informed me that my daughter and I were LUCKY HE WASN'T EXPELLING HER. He also said that he was suspending her for two reasons....first, that this would teacher her a valuable lesson, and second, that it would show the other students the zero tolerance for this type of situation.
I feel my daughter was used as an example. I feel she was punished harshly by the school. I, personally, felt it appropriate to punish her from use of the internet as well she was forced to deleter her my-space account. Here are my questions:
1. Was the school within its rights to punish her at all? Or did the matter effect the teacher, my daughter and myself only?
2. Could teacher have right to persue legal acation personally (without school involvement)?
3. Do I have any rights or recourse at this point? We are already 2 days into the suspension.
ANY HELP OR ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE ASK.
THANK YOU.
