In this case the School failed. Sometimes the insult does correctly identifies the target.
I agree entirely.
I would agree had she made the blog on a school's computer...which is not clear here. If, however, she wrote it from home then I vehemently disagree. She has every right to express her opinion under the First Amendment--even as a minor.
I agree, tho’ I think Sotomeyer got the answer right, but for all the wrong reasons. It should have gone something like this:
“Young lady, please rise. I am dismissing your case because you should show Respect to your elders. You were very rude to call the School Superintendent a Douche Bag, and I insist you apologize to them immediately, or face Contempt of Court charges forthwith.”
“Ma’am, as Mother of this child you have a responsibility to raise her properly. Instead you have taught her to have a nasty, spiteful temperament and a filthy tongue. And you have dared to darken my Court with this ridiculous case, which I am dismissing. It is wrong for you to enable bad behavior, and this Court refuses to be party to it. Finding is for the Defense, with all costs to be borne by the Plaintiff. Dismissed!”
In this case the School failed. Sometimes the insult does correctly identifies the target.
>First of all this girl was way out of line calling the administrators “douche bags”.
Really? Respect is a two-way street and let’s face it; positional authority is the weakest sort of authority there is, in that those that [soly] rely on that tend to demand ‘respect’ without giving any of their own.
>She could have expressed her opposition in a more civil manner.
True, but then so could the DHS in it’s Right-Wing extremism report... which was put out by an authority.
>The girl is a minor and as such is and should be subject to the rules set down by school authorities governing student behaviour.
I agree, though with one caveat, and that is that the rules should be enforced AND punished uniformly IN ADDITION TO being carried out in a timely manner.
>Imagine if any kid in school could call their teacher a “douche bag” and get away with it under guise of free speech.
Actually they CAN, technically.My view on this though, is: don’t let your mouth write checks your face can’t cash. {IOW, if you say something, be prepared to pay the consequences.}
>School is about teaching kids respect for authority.
Really? I thought it was about gaining knowledge, understanding, and [hopefully] some wisdom. In my experience, if authority wants respect then it should behave in a respectable manner. {Don’t take this out of context, I’m not saying God is wrong in saying that you should honor your parents.}
>She was clearly in the Wrong and I have no sympathy for her.
That is your prerogative. However, soldiers might “be in the wrong” to, for example, say ‘God, my platoon leader was such an asshat’ after getting off duty (or, let’s say, changing units) but how often does it happen? And how often is it more of a “blowing off steam” than wishing any harm on the guy?
>Sotomayor was right to put this little brat in her place
Again, I am not sure of that... in the end, the student posted this on her blog outside of school, to rule against something like that is analogous to ruling that a government employee may not, in off hours, write about how screwed-up his organization is or on politics without a form or reprisal.
And yes, government agencies usually have, somewhere, the same sort of ‘behavioral codes’ that schools have.
By your logic, the authorities could bar you from running for political office based on you calling an elected official, or an opponent, a D-Bag on FreeRepublic, or your personal blog ...because, in the eyes of Sotomayer, and here cohorts, your speech could cause “foreseeable risk of substantial disruption” in the local government. Then, of course since this is the case, why not go one further, you said something mean spirited/lowbrow/uncivil down at the local shop/bar/rally that could disrupt the peace you should pay the price.
The kid was out of line. It is not the schools responsibility to discipline her when the action takes place away from school ground, or when she is not under school supervision. The schools jurisdiction stops once my kids steps through my door at the very least; if not once they step off school grounds/property. IF she posted it at school, or called them a bad name at school, then they would be within their rights; not in this case, though.
Both of you are dead wrong about this; it is government intrusion pure and simple.
Could she have called any other citizen a d-bag on her blog and still have run for office?
Wrong. The kid did it off school grounds, teh school had no jurisdiction to provide any form of punishment.
And school IS NOT about teaching kids respect for authority.
First, I think it's important to determine whether the administrators are, in fact, douchebags. Truth is always a defense.
We faced a somewhat similar problem at a school my kids went to. There was a website that was very critical of certain administrators and staff by name. They tried to suppress it and find out who was running it for the express purpose of punishing the students responsible. They never did, the principal who was a D-bag and then some also moved on.
No that's the parents' job.
Besides, most teachers and school administrators are douche bags in my experience.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Winner!
You have, perhaps inadvertantly, expressed correctly the key fact about the American public school system.
Don't ever wonder why there is so very little actual useful education going on in public schools when the clear priority is respect for authority.
It does not seem to occur to you that these two activities are naturally in contradiction!
The public schools were expressly created to induce conformity and submission to non-parental authority. The Germans wrote about this extensively almost two centuries ago, and these marvellous progressive views were translated into English well before you were born, and put into practice in the U.S. school system over the last century.
Socializing children in schools is inhumane, but unfortunately also a keystone of American-style socialism.