Posted on 09/22/2006 1:56:54 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
I used to think vice principals had it easy. All they did, I thought, was administer licks to wayward students.
Back in the day, they called it "paddling." Today, they call it "child abuse."
Vice principals have among the toughest jobs of all — administering discipline in a hypersensitive, lawsuit-fearing, politically correct public school system.
Try dealing with the student who yells at you, swears at you, threatens you. "That happens everywhere," one school administrator said Thursday.
Then there's the kid who takes aim at your reputation. Ask Anna Draker. As assistant principal at Clark High School, she can tell you all about it.
Over the course of the 2005-06 school year, Draker disciplined one particular student on multiple occasions. In return, the student savaged her in cyberspace.
Last spring, a dean showed Draker a Web page from MySpace.com. On it was her face, lifted from Clark's Web site. Also on the page were lewd comments, obscene pictures and images of sexual devices.
Thanks to an act of student revenge, Draker became an unwitting target of sexual propositions on MySpace. She also became the talk of the school. Almost everyone but Draker seemed to know about the Web page.
The offending male student admitted to making the MySpace post. He did it during nonschool hours, on a computer at home, with help from at least one friend.
For defaming an assistant principal, the student received a three-day suspension.
Was that enough?
I don't think so.
The District Attorney's Office doesn't think so. Prosecutors are pursuing a case against the Web page creator, alleging retaliation and identity theft.
Anna Draker does not think enough was done, either. She is pursuing a lawsuit, alleging defamation against two students and negligent supervision against their parents.
At this point, I can hear moms and dads everywhere going, whoa!
How am I, a single mother, supposed to work, cook, clean, do laundry, review homework and police my three kids on the computer?
Or:
How are we supposed to take one kid to soccer, a second to piano, a third to karate and monitor the fourth on the Internet?
Good questions. Draker's lawsuit will certainly spark debate on parental responsibility.
But I hope the suit answers another question about the wild frontier of cyberspace: What should be done to the student who defames a teacher or administrator on the Internet?
There appears to be little case law on the subject.
In Georgia earlier this year, a science teacher claimed a 15-year-old student defamed him on MySpace. The student wrote that the teacher wrestled alligators and midgets, liked Michael Jackson and enjoyed having "a gay old time."
The teacher filed criminal charges; a Georgia court dismissed them as "unconstitutional."
By comparison, that case pales compared to the one here.
"It's not like somebody called Anna Draker a name," said Murphy Klasing, a Houston lawyer representing the assistant principal. "This was four pages of filth. It rose to a level which was so unbelievably vile, the only thing we could do is what we did."
The suit against the Clark students does not specify the damages sought. Klasing says the intent is not to bankrupt the families — "or the suit would say we're seeking a million dollars" — but to hold them accountable.
Five months after the Web posting, Draker may get her wish. By pursuing charges against the Web page creator, she has given the Northside Independent School District a new disciplinary option.District policy precludes harsh penalties for off-campus transgressions — unless criminal charges are filed.
Now that prosecutors are pursuing the case, NISD could re-assign the student to an alternative school.
"That hasn't taken place," said district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez, "but that is a possibility."
No one knows if the criminal case will collapse, if the civil suit will succeed. It appears Anna Draker may be plowing new legal ground, and that's some job. It's one thing to be an assistant principal. It's another to be a pioneer.
and Educator sues teens over page on MySpace at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1706558/posts
I don't like this. File charges against the student if he is old enough to be accountable and kick him out of school. Fine the parents. This is just going to open a can of worms IMO. Parents will have to have kid insurance because it will trickle down to where the parents of 4 y/olds are sued for fighting, and name calling . Where ever there is a buck to be made.......
Maybe you unplug the computer, take the modem to work with you?
When I say "it works for me", I literally mean it.
Easy.
If you are an incompetent parent, and the little ******** darlings aren't capable of acting civilized, make sure there is no computer in the house that they can have access to...
This was about the only way she could get these kids' attention. If they're gonna play hardball, they'd better be ready to get hit hard.
How am I, a single mother, supposed to work, cook, clean, do laundry, review homework and police my three kids on the computer?
1. don't have kids you can't supervise, mentor or control
If you became a single parent through separation or divorce you have to take steps to at least limit their access to areas of potential trouble
2. unsupervised computer access screams for trouble
It's the same as setting no restrictions or time constraints when they go out at night or travel unsupervised with their friends.
3. Teen children old enough to operate a computer can sure as hell help with cooking and cleaning. If they're not then reappraise your parenting skills lady.
If you are unable to control the kids, at least control their computer access at home.
The school district suspended the student for only three days. The vice-principal has a slam-dunk suit against the district for maintaining a hostile work environment by failing to expel the student.
Ping to Education Ping List
Besides, they went as far as they are legally allowed to go.
I hope these punk kids lose big in criminal court AND civil court.
Education ping.
Let McVey, JamesP81, or me know if you want on or off the education ping list.
Gee, I don't know.
How about not having 1-2-3-4 kids if you can't?
Ah, but they are, as her lawsuit will demonstrate. This harassment arose as the direct result of her performing her duties on behalf of the district.
Besides, they went as far as they are legally allowed to go.
I doubt it, but if so her suit for millions against the district will soon cause the legislature to recognize districts' potential exposure and create suitable recourse for them. She's got leverage.
Sadly, you may be right.
I would like to think the school district would be on the same page as its administrators and teachers, but I know better. My wife is a teacher.
When push comes to shove, I expect the district might just play "blame the teacher". Or in this case... blame the assistant principal.
bump
Not likely. To do so would only exacerbate her hostile work environment claim, because any jury would see her innocence and the district's malfeasance. At this point, if she does sue, the district can only minimize the damage by expelling or transferring the "student."
The school district suspended the student for only three days. The vice-principal has a slam-dunk suit against the district for maintaining a hostile work environment by failing to expel the student.
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Do the other students have a right to sue the school district for forcing them to "socialize" with these delinquents and dealing daily with a hostile environment? What about the student's and their parents First Amendment Right to free association?
There are two things here that make this a very different case from ordinary name calling: 1) a serious identity theft issue in that the kids allegedly caused the web page to appear to have been created and posted by the vice principal herself and 2) the web page directly stated the vice principal was a lesbian, when she wasn't, a definite, actionable libel. If the kids had stuck to name calling, parody, disclosure of provable facts, and their own opinions, then she wouldn't have a case.
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