dynamick36
Junior Member
I live in California
Here's the story:
A very smart girl performed poorly on a recent math test. One of her friends, in a gesture to cheer her up started a book addressed to her. The book came with specific instructions to basically write a story about the girl and cheer her up and pass the book on to another person. The book circulated for weeks. The problem was that many students, in an attempt to cheer up the girl were taking stabs at the math teacher: libel. The faculty got a hold of this book and are handing out referrals and saturday study sessions. I am one of the ones receiving a referral and a saturday study session. But, my story had no libel in it whatsoever. Their basis of punishing me, and others like me, is that by participating in the book, and signing my name, i agreed to the statements made by other students who wrote in the book before me. Now i was the fifth person to write in the book, and i had never read the entries before mine in which someone had taken a stab at the math teacher...am i responsible or liable for what they wrote? The assistant principle also told me that if others were to find out about my punishment, that i would be in deeper trouble and recieve further punishment...is that a threat? They said it was a confidentiality issue. I did some research that states in the California Education Code 5366.12 that confidentiality is at the student's discretion, and also California Education Codes 94367 (d) and 48950 protect my 1st amendment rights off campus. What are my rights in this situation, and what can i do to get out of the trouble that i am in with the book?
Here's the story:
A very smart girl performed poorly on a recent math test. One of her friends, in a gesture to cheer her up started a book addressed to her. The book came with specific instructions to basically write a story about the girl and cheer her up and pass the book on to another person. The book circulated for weeks. The problem was that many students, in an attempt to cheer up the girl were taking stabs at the math teacher: libel. The faculty got a hold of this book and are handing out referrals and saturday study sessions. I am one of the ones receiving a referral and a saturday study session. But, my story had no libel in it whatsoever. Their basis of punishing me, and others like me, is that by participating in the book, and signing my name, i agreed to the statements made by other students who wrote in the book before me. Now i was the fifth person to write in the book, and i had never read the entries before mine in which someone had taken a stab at the math teacher...am i responsible or liable for what they wrote? The assistant principle also told me that if others were to find out about my punishment, that i would be in deeper trouble and recieve further punishment...is that a threat? They said it was a confidentiality issue. I did some research that states in the California Education Code 5366.12 that confidentiality is at the student's discretion, and also California Education Codes 94367 (d) and 48950 protect my 1st amendment rights off campus. What are my rights in this situation, and what can i do to get out of the trouble that i am in with the book?