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A SECONDARY SCHOOL in Co Limerick has suspended 28 students after they ‘Liked’ an update on Facebook containing an explicit reference to one of its teachers.
Colaiste Chiaráin in Croom suspended each of the students for two days after they pressed the ‘Like’ button under an image, which included explicit comments about one of the schoolteachers’ private lives.
The image was posted by an administrator of a page, who could not be identified – but the discovery of the offending item by school authorities led to the decision to suspend each of the students who had endorsed the content by pressing the thumbs-up icon underneath it.
School principal Noel Malone told the Limerick Leader that the offending content was a breach of its acceptable usage and anti-bullying policies.
“It is a highly sensitive matter,” Malone said, claiming that both parents and senior management of the school had been “very supportive” of the decision to suspend the students who had ‘Liked’ the post.
“If it was their child or themselves, they would expect the school to act swiftly and fairly when it comes to something like this,” he added.
The Limerick Leader said some of the students were suspended for two days last week, while others served their suspensions yesterday and today as they were outside the school on work experience last week.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland said it would not comment on individual schools, but said it was “vital that students understand there are boundaries in relation to what they can post about any individual (including their teachers) on these platforms”.
“Material which constitutes malicious gossip, harassment, humiliation or defamation can have a serious impact on a teacher and potentially serious repercussions for students,” said spokeswoman Gemma Tuffy, who pointed out that anti-bullying policies existed to protect staff as well as students.
“Schools must make it clear to students that unacceptable material may be traced back to the perpetrator, even if posted anonymously.”
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Did those students not realise their names were identifiable from the ‘likes’ they have given? They should be given another two days suspension for stupidity.
If what the teacher does in their private life is no business of the students/school, what business is what the students do (liking pages) in their private lives that of the schools/headmaster?
The school day ends at 3:30 and there ends its authority as well.
Yes Andy, and who is responsible then? Well done to the principle and school !
Andy you sound like a twit, you should be suspended from the journal for two days
Their parents. Or should the school be able to discipline students for watching too much tv aswell?
Andy if your profile picture was turned into an image macro and the students of this school all “liked” it and ridiculed you would you not expect the principal of the school to take some form if action?
The school’s authority does not necessarily end at 3.30. If a student punched a teacher on a night out, as well as facing criminal charges, the school would be completely within their right to take disciplinary action against the student.
Likewise the school has a duty of care to it’s employees and that includes protecting it’s staff from bullying and harassment as these students were involved in.
Students have a right to do what they want outside of school only as long as what they are doing does not involve the school or it’s staff in any way.
No, I would not. The students of the school do not represent the school in everything they do, they are independent entities. If they spat at me while wearing their uniforms it could be taken they were bringing the school into disrepute then but otherwise no.
If you got drunk and made a fool of yourself in your local, could your employer suspend you for it? No. So why different for schools?
Andy has a point, I was hauled in front the principal in primary school because a teacher saw me hitching a ride off a bus on rollerblades. School ends at 3.30.
@Andy – if you got drunk in your local and started verbally abusing your boss, your employer could take disciplinary action against you. The school acted correctly.
Andy, do you make your comments solely to get people’s backs up and get attention. I think your better than that, truth be known.
@Andy, no matter where, when or how this situation occurred, it involves 2 members (and more) of the same school and it will have an impact on the working environment of that school, therefore of course it falls under the remit of the school.
If you went to your local and got drunk in front of your boss, it is none of his concern. However, if your drinking begins to affect the environment in which you work, your boss would be well within his rights to suspend you, despite the fact that the drinking occurred outside the office.
Fair play to the principal.
He’s not getting my back up. He is talkin sense.
The teacher might just have been concerned about your safety ????
Trolling again Andy. Sad man.
Andy, how do you know the students who liked the post about the teacher weren’t wearing their uniforms at the time and thereby “representing” the school?
Their parents!
Feel sorry for you!
Andy you are entirely missing the point – these students have publicly published and associated themselves with disparaging remarks about a teacher in their school. This has consequence whether it happens during school hours or not. It is school related.
Liking is not the same as publishing, I sometimes feel all discussion re:digital media should be preceded with a lexicon.
Bullying does not end at 3.30pm after school is over. If you we’re being bullied after work or school would you hope you employers or teachers etc would try and help you or ignore it because its “outside hours”?!
I agree with you Andy. Its ridiculous anyway to suspend students for liking something on Facebook – like the teachers and principal should consider the pupils age – this sort of stuff always goes on in secondary school …
Fair play to the school, hopefully it will teach the brats a lesson.
We lament the lack of action taken against bullying in schools but when a head master behaves with decency and common sense then it’s an overreaction because the victim was a teacher and not a pupil?
It’s trolls with opinions like that who raise the children who behave in this disgusting manner.
The issues being raised in this case are not what you said they are. It’s not simply student-teacher bullying.
It’s an issue of school jurisdiction, privacy and a “what if it was off hours, student-student bullying?”.
Just because people raise these issues does not mean they should be accused of raising disgustingly behaved children. What you said is a form of bullying. And over 116 people “like” your bullying too.
Children who behave in this disgusting manner? They are children!!! God this sounds like my mother’s generation speaking!!! Anybody who understands young people will realise that most of them probably clicked like to be seen as cool and out there. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to peer pressure, and their pre-frontal cortex (which controls our impulsive actions) is literally not developed till they are in their early twenties.
Teachers, on the other hand, are adults and ideally they would understand adolescent psychology and development and would look on this as an opportunity to work with those young people (which they would probably hate much more than suspension) to explore why that was so hurtful to the teacher. They could have done some good work there, and I am sure sitting down in a mediation and restorative justice environment with that teacher most of them would have been really embarrassed. Like the adults who curse at people from behind the wheel, or green thumb racism and hatred on this very paper, it is a very different thing to be face to face with the person you have casually hurt by thoughtless actions.
A bit of understanding, getting the young people to think up for themselves what they could do to make it up to the teacher, and then forgiving them (I take it that it is not a Christian school then!!!) – that’s the kind of thing that could have made a real difference (and where it is practised it is of course effective in changing behaviour). Instead they have the bonding experience of being excluded, the kudos if you like of suspension for doing something daring (remember, immature young people we are talking about here!) and really nothing constructive learned and no personal responsibility taken… just punishment – the hallmark of this country: authoritarianism, shame and punishment – we just love it…
Well said Michelle..
Michelle you are clearly not a teacher!!! Doubt you work with children/teenagers I would think!! God forbid some “children” post a disparaging remark about one of your nearest and dearest and a lot of their school community liked that comment!!! Don’t come knocking at the Schools door crying for help…sure in your eyes and Andys too the school really don’t have any jurisdiction to get involved!!!!
The principal is very sensible indeed. We forget that gangs of kids can bully teachers too and make their life hell esp in secondary school. Its all about respect i guess. They teach maths english irish etc but does any school teach RESPECT for your superiors and each other and most of all yourself. Parents can do a lot of this at home. But its up to the teaching staff when kids are in their care to pass onto students a sense of respect for one another. And to see it through. They check your homework. But do they check how u treat ur fellow student…. NO!!
I like the principal in this story. He is showing the kids wrong from right. God bless him
Hang on there a sec. It’s up to PARENTS to teach kids about respecting their peers. Yet another thing lazy parents are happy to let the schools take responsibility for.
Bulling without a doubt does happen against teachers from students, I saw it happen at least to two teachers whilst in secondary school.
The excuse by the students of course is “they are just having a laugh”, sure the same excuse can be used by any bully.
I’m not a teacher and I can’t say I liked alot of my teachers whilst in school but at the end of the day they are entitled to a level of respect the same as any employee in any position. They are entitled not to be bullied.,
Agreed completely but you have to remember that school kids are immature. There’s no other way to put it. If you’re going to teach adolescents then you’re going to be up against rebellion. Abusuve notes and drawings did the rounds years ago and now they’ve been replaced with online versions of the same stuff.
I’m not saying it’s right but it is to be expected as a pitfall of the job.
I think a lot of teachers do try to teach students to treat each other with respect.
Respect for your superiors?! Did you really say that???!!!
They say modelling respect is how it is learned… in my experience teachers and schools who give respect and try to understand what is going on for young people get the best out of them and get respect in return.
I concur with Barry. I’m not a teacher either but I witnessed a couple of teachers in my school being completely bullied & ridiculed by students. It was disgraceful & the worst thing about it was that these students parents were the first to blame teachers for their ‘darlings’ shortcomings. I think bad, disinterested or unfit parenting was the most common issue.
@ Killawalla Killjoy, so if something was vile was posted about your kids, and the school toook no action, you’d be quite okay with that laizzez faire policy?
It’s what the courts and the laws are for. Not schools.
Long time since I read laizez faire. Now I keep repeating it in my head, thanks
I’m thinkin if fair lezzers..
That dude is putting the principle back into principal.
right on
It’s all about respect,if you can’t respect your elders and especially a teacher who is probably picked on in class then fair enough,good lesson taught by the school
In these days we expect mutual respect between students and teachers – I hope my son will respect only the teachers who treat him with respect, and hopefully have the grace and understanding to forgive the ones that do not treat him with respect. But respect your elders? No, sorry. I do not expect respect from people just because they are younger than me – that would be a hideous power trip! They do say that children and young people learn by example. My experience is that they are much more likely to respect teachers that have shown them respect.
Maybe we should just respect each other regardless of age.
The amount of hypocrites on here is unbelievable. Bullying and intimidation is the same no matter the age or circumstances. By the rationale of some comments above a teacher can have no life outside their job or a social life. Ignorance is intolerable. In any of your professional lives if you were treated like this you’d be straight onto HR, teachers have no recourse. I applaud the principal and school for their stance.
I hope this Principal has set the standard to be followed, though personally, I would have expelled them permanently with no apology. Bullies deserve as much mercy as they give – absolutely none. They are sniveling cowards who should be exposed for what they are and treated accordingly.
Nice to see that the thin air on that high moral ground has no effect on you binary absolutist sense of justice. These kids didnt write the original post. They did not create the content,they didn’t reproduce it not did they actively share it. It came up on their timeline and the clicked the ‘like’ button. Yeah that really deserved that hate filled diatribe you just treated us to.
Indeed Eamonom, the level of viciousness against these children is appalling. Do people not remember what it is like being young and insecure, when you are likely to do things you are not proud of if it might make your mates like you, or make you seem cool. God, we were all like that. How soon they forget.
The opprobrium being heaped on these children is reaching ridiculous hysterical levels now. They were children that LIKED a comment on Facebook!! Have you all lost your shit altogether. I think a lot of people commenting here hate teenagers more than they are concerned for cyber bullying or this elusive meaning of respect
They’d be still going to school if they were my kids. Social media is none of the school’s affair. Never in any case. People have become too thin skinned these days. It sickens me to read this shite.
agreed.
the idea of “Thought Police” doesn’t seem too science fiction anymore.
then again… it wasn’t sci-fi 70 years ago
if this is where we are heading i am scared of the future
Social media is just a communication tool. Making explicit inappropriate comments about a teacher of the school is 100% the school’s affair.
Your level of ignorance sickens me.
When it involves a teacher it is the school’s business. They have a legal responsibility to provide a safe work place free from harassment
But it is the schools business,
In this case the content was public or atleast viewable to a large amount of people, its no different to students sticking such images up around town on posters,.
A teacher is entitled to privacy and is entitled to not have stuff said about them, what the students did was a form of bullying.
If it was the other way around and a teacher posted something about a student and other teachers “liked” it, would you be so supportive of the teachers saying its none of the students business?
No, i very much doubt it
Of course its the schools business to take immediate action if a staff member is being targeted by bullys, no mercy for the brats have we learned nothing over the last year !
So where would you stand on a teacher making explicit comments about your kids on social media. Still none of the schools business?
@Killjoy – Once your kids are suspended there’s nothing you can do about it. It is utterly and totally 100 per cent the school’s business. I bet if your kid was the teacher in question you’d have a different attitude.
I dont think you would see it the same way if it was your kids and not a teacher!why should it be different just because it was against a teacher?bullying is bullying no matter if its in school,outside of school or on social media against adult or child!
@joe o shea If they say something libelous then let the person sue them. It is a public matter between those two people and has absolutely nothing to do with the school. Let the courts decide.If you press that you like the thing, so what, you like it. It may have been funny? Who knows? You didn’t write it. It’s like if you hear a distasteful joke and laugh. You shouldn’t laugh but you do, but it’s none of anyone else’s business if you like the joke. You didn’t tell the joke you just liked it. If I had liked the comment, what would the school do to me? I’m not a student. I’ll tell you, they’d do nothing. If it happens outside of school time, schools butt out. I don’t know where schools get this sense that they are responsible for kids after hours. Pupils bring in a note so as to get permission to leave the school for lunchtime. This note is to say that the school isn’t responsible for that child during that lunch period. For insurance. Schools as usual want their cake and want to eat it too. Don’t want the insurance claims outside of school time but feel obliged to get involved in the child’s life for discipline purposes in things outside their jurisdiction. Teachers need to grow up and remember who’s the kid and who’s the adult. Ignorance? Looking in the mirror again then Joe? Grow up.
I green thumbed your statement. Sue me!!!
So if a school kid tells his friend on a Saturday afternoon he thinks his teacher is a bender and someone overhears him and tells the school he should be suspended? Same concept only verbal. It’s OTT.
@ Barry.
Teacher = adult
Student = child
They should react and behave in the same proportion.
It’s completely different. A social network is a public place. It is written down, on the Internet, where essentially nothing can be deleted. If you say something really horrible, a screen shot can be taken, recorded and continue to come back and haunt you, saying something verbally to a friend is entirely different. You can say something stupid aloud and take it back but you can’t do that with the Internet.
Oh no that can never happen outside the internet. Its not like someone can surreptitiously record your entire conversation without your knowledge. Oh wait, is Michael Lowry a victim of bullying now. It’s not like people go around taking screenshots of mundane inanities on your timeline.
I think the point here is that these kids didn’t actually post or publish anything. Two days suspension for a click if the Like button is ri-bloody-diculous..
Obtusely thick to trot out the “what if it were the other way around?” and “what if that teacher was your kid?” arguments.. Very obviously not comparing apples with apples.. As is so ofteb the case, the self-righteous are really clutching at straws..
I’m scarlet for yer old ones..
I imagine the exact particulars of the case aren’t the main point here. There is a big bullying problem in Ireland and this school has quite simply and effectively put out a message that it won’t tolerate any type of bullying. Don’t bully and don’t support bullying. The teacher could have a very thick skin and in fact it’s easier to make the teacher case an example than a student. It’s the message that’s important and I applaud it.
So if a student took a picture of or recorded a teacher in a classroom and posted it to Facebook that night, should the school not get involved? What if the picture is explicit? What if the post a comment that is slanderous in nature? I commend this school for taking this action.
I’d be more concerned that explicit pictures or recordings of a teacher were taken in the classroom, let alone posted online..
I fear for the future.
Facebook is producing a generation of braindead teens who can’t communicate without a smart phone in their hands and have a meltdown if 1000 friends don’t ‘like’ their latest status update on how many new pimples they had this morning…next time I see a teen reading a book I’m giving them a thumbs up .
It must be a strange world for kids these days. Imagine being raised in this world of constant communication. We will only see more suicide/bullying stories involving young people in the media. Kids can’t really handle it, they never knew a world before this level of technology and rapid constant communication with others.
See my vest. I teach my kids wrong v right and respect for peers. I dont consider it lazy parenting that i should expect the teachers to ensure that my child while in their care is respected and shows respect!!!
Wonder how many of them like a couple of days off school.
56 naggins will obviously be bought over the 2 day suspension
Well with 28 mates all off on the same days it’s cause for celebration, and they say suspension is a punishment
Doubt it wit all a croom lookin at them after they brought national disgrace upon themselves.
I’m sure they’ll get over it, yesterday’s news already.
Cormac
Very few of the students at the school are from Croom. Pupils come from the city and county to go there so I’d say its fairly likely they’ll be enjoying their suspension.
Indeed Cormac, let’s hope that the nastiness directed at these young people does not have a bad effect on any of them… that level of national condemnation you talk about should ring warning bells for us all…
Don’t know the context but it seems like a bit of an over-reaction because they couldn’t identify the original poster.
Clicking Like on a Facebook page is the equivalent of laughing at a joke.
Ann. That could be right. They should treat all bullying the same. Student/teacher or student/student or even teacher/teacher bullying.
How do you know they don’t? Just speculation?
Students make fun of a teacher. Holy crap well that’s never happened before! Just wait for the torrent of anonymous abuse the entire faculty are likely to recieve as a result of this equally childish reaction.
I am spartacus!
What would happen if a teacher posted publicly inappropriate comments about students? Why should teenagers get away with this kind of bullying?
And you wonder why society is going down the toilet?
That’s possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever read. A teacher is an adult of adult emotional intelligence and maturity. The students in question are kids immature with a world of growing up to do. You can’t compare the two in terms of “well what of the teacher was mean to a student?”
Yeah sure the teacher was embarrassed but shrug it off jesus you’re an adult. If the opinion of a handful of teens means that much then you’re in the wrong job.
The kids nees to be taught respect but they also need to grow up. Suspending them doesn’t speed up that process. Another form of punishment should have been used.
You’re contradicting yourself. Shrug it off on the one hand but there should be a punishment on the other. What’s it to be? Note no complaints from parents. You’ve no idea the of the damage rumours that started out as jokes can do to a teacher in the current climate. Please don’t expose your ignorance any more.
Second comment down Andy Duggan has gotten over 100 red thumbs, over 3 times the number of likes that the post referring to the teacher received. Well I guess that means he’s being bullied and we gotta punish everyone that clicked the red thumb.
Because in reality thats all the kids did. They clicked a thumb.
Exactly. People on here have referred to them as brats and made comments about the amounts of nagging sold over the 2 days suspension period because they did what exactly click a like button. The little devils. So the next time you’re in a pub and someone cracks a joke that makes sone people uncomfortable and any individual who laughs along, even if they might agree with the sentiment, is a bully
Gettin tired of the much-hackneyed “current climate”.
Are teachers more susceptible to reputational damage from jokes, or likes for that matter, in the freezing damp than in the tropics.?
I remember my leaving cert year, 27 years ago. A student teacher ended up shifting one of the lads that dropped out the year before in the local nightclub. Monday morning we all just smiled and winked at her. She got a few words about professional standards from the principle that morning. What could she do at that stage, a young girl new to town knowing nobody and nothing to do with the school. We were asked to stop smiling and winking and act like nothing had happened, all to save her feelings. At the end of her time in the school she thanked us for not making a big issue out of it.
The problem here appears to be that it was not the teacher who posted to image & comments. However there is still such a thing as fair comment, and if the Teacher was engaged in an activity of a “highly sensitive matter” and was photographed so doing, than that Teacher has nobody to blame but themselves.
What the piece does not say is how the school dealt with the teacher engaged in an activity of a “highly sensitive matter”. If that activity did not meet the professional standards expected of a teacher then it is only right that disciplinary procedures are brought against the teacher. Unless “photoshopping” were involved. Then a case of libel is called for against the “administrator” of the page, once the Gardai track them down.
I am shocked at your spelling of Principal.
I’m shocked that all you took away out of that considered post was a typo.
You have misread the article. The principal stated that the issue was ‘a highly sensitive matter’. You inferred that the image in question depicted a ‘high sensitive matter’ this was not the case.
I’d agree with the suspension if the students had been involved in a much more heinous act than that of ‘liking’ a status update. Is this what it has come down to, ‘likes’, ‘following’, ‘retweets’ that constitute criminals acts. Fine saying some libel, but the ‘liking’ of something which is considered libel, is that to be considered equal to the posting of such an article. Are we really to consider this rather flippant act of liking something as being a serious offence? Case and point, years ago I clicked like on a facebook page called “I want to punch slow walking people in the back of the head”, should I be arrested for seemingly supporting violence, and assaults? Or should it be taken as it is, a throw away ‘like’ for something I found amusing at the time. By extension, should all readers of gossip magazines be arrested for the bullying of women, as they have supported the magazine in their campaign of bullying celebrities by purchasing them. (Please red thumb this, I won’t hold you to account)
Wish I could give multiple greens..
You can’t fault the principal much for protecting his staff, and young people need to learn that writing something down for all the world to see is different from joking and whispering about it.
However I am unconvinced that a suspension is the correct punishment. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the point of a suspension is to protecting other pupils’ right to learn and the right of staff to work in a safe environment. Vile as the content might be, I am not convinced that liking a status prevents other students from learning and puts staff members at risk in their working environment. Nor do I think that it is much of a punishment in that you have 28 pupils who are presumably all friends (of some sort) off school and with nothing productive to do. It also could be misconstrued as a badge of honour.
A better response might have been better to give them Saturday detention for a few weeks running, writing out “I must think before I like” and “I must stop being a jackass” 500 times. Such a punishment would not only inconvenience the pupils greatly, but it would also make them reflect on what they have done, while sending out a clear message to their peers that such behaviour is impermissible.
Well done Principal. I bet the suspended bullies will think twice before they gang up on somebody again.
“I must think before I like”. That statement disgusts me!
Im amazed theres 28 kids in croom, used to be a no horse town
Phew – I’ve been interested to see what people would say about this during the day and trying not to comment. Mostly, this is because I did my 4th year teaching practice at this school.
I would not claim this school to be perfect; there are specifics I didn’t like about Noel Malone’s vision of the school – but you don’t have to agree with everyone all the time.
There is far more right about the school and Noel Malone’s hopes for the students who attend than moans.
There is a lot that people are commenting on that I wonder about – first, has anyone been to the school website? I saw nothing there that outlines anti-bullying policy. If it’s there, I personally didn’t think it was as apparent and obvious as it surely should have been. So there is some question of student understanding (I know some will read this bit and go straight to the red thumb, but I would ask that you remember that 13-19ish year old students do not have the adult brains we do – have different peers, have different expectations of themselves and their friends)
Then there’s the fact that some seem to think that that degree of maturity; that thing that makes you think “Is this a good idea” is as present in these teens as it is in those like me and you.
None of us know what it was exactly that was put up. So, all the above judgments are not based on our own view of what is offensive.
There’s a lot of thumbing going on – I’m sure many of these thumbs are from those who would comment in favour of internet freedom and against censorship. Does that not count for secondary school students?
If it doesn’t count for them, is it because of their age? If they aren’t old enough for internet freedom then why are we praising their punishment for not knowing any better?!?
And that brings me to quite a pertinent point…..
Colaiste Chiarain wants a laptop/netbook in front of every pupil, using ebooks. It has a high quality wireless network available to all students. Of course there are filters there to prevent access to listed sites.
In an environment where the principal looks to embrace technology and over the last 2 years at least, 13 year olds have this kind of access…. not just HAVE this kind of access but are EXPECTED to have this kind of access…. Surely responsible internet use should be a policy in itself? Surely this should be available to students and parents on the school website?
As for a suspension – I heard Noel on the radio today talking about this. I don’t think it squares to say on one side that there is an “ethos of care” alongside an “intelligent classroom” and then suspend students.
As teachers, the hope is that every kid comes into every class and is able to leave with understanding and the ability to apply what they have learned. Surely calling everyone into the school so that they have the understanding of why offence was taken and/or why the posting was inappropriate and how the “like” makes it seem “ok” to make judgments/insult a teacher’s personal life doesn’t sit well with following with a suspension?
It doesn’t make sense to me – to educate as to why social norms dictate that a person would be unhappy, having the students understand that and then get punished anyway.
Michelle Rodgers in another post gave a very useful link. IMO (and before someone misreads something here it’s only my opinion) it would have been a very clean and fair way to deal with it to ask the students and parents in, resolve the conflict and then ask for the likes to be removed. After that, take it further – there’s a lot to be said for parents knowing what their kids are up to online.
Definitely no need for 28 students to be suspended – perhaps some, but not all. And I doubt if the teachers of these kids would enjoy the professional obligation of having to catch them up afterward…..
Great post, Tony. A really considered response by someone with actual experience if education an the issues involved. I think you said what a lot of people on here would like to be heard said beyond the knee-jerk hyperbole that dominates the thread. And I would second that endorsement of Michelle’s link from earlier.
Although it seems to be a minority opinion here- it does come across as a hyper sensitivity by the school. I have no idea of the offence, knowing teenagers it was probably something immature and sexual in nature. But to suspend someone and blot their record for what exactly – a mouse click? Is the like button really that much of a issue. If someone posted something contentious here and a person felt slandered , would the injured party be justified to bring proceedings against everyone who up-thumbed it? Would their endorsement be bullying ?
There is no such thing as a permenent record!
I never said there was my point is really “who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?” Essential this is some of the alarming hyper sensitivity re: social media you are likes to hear outside of the senate chamber
Is ‘liking’ really bullying?
Where do you draw the line? If this hadn’t happened online but, instead for example, someone had said something insulting or obscene to the teacher, would any onlooker who smiled be guilty of “bullying” or only those who point and laugh outloud? Seems like every time anyone takes offence at anything these days, they kick-start a witch-hunt by crying “Bully!”..
Two days suspension !! What’s the use of that ? Throw them out for a year at least ….
Sounds like a violation of students freedom of speech and their right to an education… Big Brother is watching kids, think only good wholesome thoughts.
lol
I wonder if the school in question would act that swiftly if the photo and comments were about another student, Bullying is wrong regardless of the victims age or status, but I doubt very
much that they would be so quick to suspend the bullies if they were picking on a student.
Where I work Anne any kind of proven student to student bullying attracts a suspension. Indeed expulsion is not beyond the bounds of possibility. Stop generalising.
Alan
I completely agree with the schools actions, I cant abide bullies and when I was in school I stood up for a couple of my classmates who were constantly picked on and teased. Unfortunately though, schools in general are not so quick to act when students are being bullied by their peers.
and PS Alan
there is no E on the end of my name!!
Ann / Anne. Wow. Big difference. Hardly like its Genevieve.
@ Simone J Blak
Alan is a teacher and part of his job is to correct his students spelling mistakes. Further it was a huge difference when my mother gave me my name. An added e can make all the difference.
@Ann.. Have you ever tried putting an E at the end of your name? Might look nice; you never know, you might even get to like it..
You shouldn’t close yourself off from new things; never be afraid of new experiences..
The school is absolutely correct to enforce and expect a high standard of discipline among their students. It is, in my view, entitled to suspend those students found to have enabled the spreading of a vexacious, slanderous and defamatory story about a private citizen through the medium of a facebook status.
The school, through their actions and with the support of parents it should be noted, have sent a clear message to students that the defamation of an individual’s personal character is completely inappropriate if done either directly or indirectly via social media, or any other form of communication.
Young people will only learn to do right if they clearly understand that when there is wrongdoing, there are consequences. We need stronger discipline in our schools and in our society in general. Standards have slipped in this country.
Fair play to this school and to the Principal for having the balls to make a strong statement here.
Here’s a way to make a real difference that’s proven to work and increase responsibility in young people for their behaviour, while ensuring they still feel valued and loved, instead of our good old Irish punishment and shame approach:
http://www.transformingconflict.org/content/home
Jesus whats the world coming to , you get a couple of days off school for hitting ‘likes’ on Facebook , hmmmm wonder what the effect will be next time there’s something that teenagers shouldn’t “like” on there , as for hiding this under the very trendy badge of ‘cyber bullying” , well Im sure the school should have a better example of what is actual bullying” other than this…..
@john o shea If they say something libelous then let the person sue them. It is a public matter between those two people and has absolutely nothing to do with the school. Let the courts decide.If you press that you like the thing, so what, you like it. It may have been funny? Who knows? You didn’t write it. It’s like if you hear a distasteful joke and laugh. You shouldn’t laugh but you do, but it’s none of anyone else’s business if you like the joke. You didn’t tell the joke you just liked it. If I had liked the comment, what would the school do to me? I’m not a student. I’ll tell you, they’d do nothing. If it happens outside of school time, schools butt out. I don’t know where schools get this sense that they are responsible for kids after hours. Pupils bring in a note so as to get permission to leave the school for lunchtime. This note is to say that the school isn’t responsible for that child during that lunch period. For insurance. Schools as usual want their cake and want to eat it too. Don’t want the insurance claims outside of school time but feel obliged to get involved in the child’s life for discipline purposes in things outside their jurisdiction. Teachers need to grow up and remember who’s the kid and who’s the adult. Ignorance? Looking in the mirror again then John? Grow up.
I agree, had school computers been used to post this, during school hours, they might have some argument, but I do think the degree to which people seem to be concerned with policing the interwebs is getting very big brotherish.
Should anyone who has posted that they like weed, or like bands who sing lyrics about crime/drugs etc. be suspended… where does the madness stop.
this is not only appropriate but essential teaching of acceptable boundaries. being young is just that. it is not a disability to be immature or a permission to ignore what is socially/morally acceptable. part of growing up should be learning to be a positive member of society.
if we can assume that students can aquire skills e.g. to use technology, and physics and other languages in schools surely it is not beyond their capability to ‘learn’ items on the internet are impossible to take back and ‘liking’ anything reposts that item. bullying in any form needs to be addressed.
Liking a post does NOT automatically repost an item. I really wish people would take the time to learn something about what they are talking about.
Beating the kids with a stick would also fit into “being addressed”. Nobody would reasonably advocate that.
The issue being addressed is not up for debate – the form of the address is reasonable to debate.
All those kids were taken into the school and talked with about the effects of what had occurred. There wasn’t a need to suspend any kid who genuinely regretted it and “unliked” it.
Now, due to a simple issue of maturity (that a suspension teaches nothing about) 28 kids spent a few days at home, some on a PS3 I’m sure, disrupting the lives of their parents and who now go back in to classrooms where each of their teachers are under the professional obligation to make up that time for them…
Sometimes on Facebook I get poked, like…
Is that what Fidelma Healy-Screams was dribbling about last week..?
No. A paradigm example of a self frape. Let’s call it a srape…
what exactly was the comment and image
Why didn’t the teacher in question ask whoever put up the comment/picture to take it down or at the very least insure their privacy??
Anyone who uses FB is aware of privacy issues and is careful what’s posted about as employers/pupils/patients ect can get access to your page and there maybe consequences.
It’s a disgrace ! If this photo was posted it was there to be commented on as that’s y there is a comment box under it !
Did anyone actually hear what was said? By no mean was it “explicit”!!
Can I write it here or are we all dancing around the facts of the situation?
Also, as it happens, 2 good friends of mine had to leave that school due to bullying, that the sane principle would do nothing about. And it wasn’t just student to student either!
Please don’t repost a comment that clearly was offensive to the person in question!! Have you learnt nothing at all!!???
What are you referring to?
Like
What a lot of FB users don’t realise is that although one surrenders a certain amount of privacy by merely signing up, there are many controls to limit who can see what. You can set up a photo album for as many or as few people as you want. You can include or exclude people from your’ Status Updates as you want. The options are there. I’ve come across a case recently of a person I deal with who has some questionable photos up. I’m not her’ friend on FB & I’ve no desire to be. Her’ photos are 100% public. She’s one of these 1000+ Friends types also. Don’t get it. If I was an employer and searched a potential employee and came across a similar page, the C.V. would be binned immediately. Another thing a lot of job applicants don’t do is use a separate e-mail account when applying for a job. Use an informal e-mail for social media, use a formal one for job applications etc. A feature of social media is one can search by e-mail. If you want your’ personal and professional life separate, then don’t join them together by using the one e-mail.
Won’t somebody please think of the children?
The review was flawed by ‘fraping’. LMAO..Where did they come up with that! “Fraping”
I guess no one has a sense of humour! Annal the lot of ya who gave thumbs down…
have your say