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Dec. 12th, 2008
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Dec. 12th, 2008 11:05 amBecause I don't feel like retyping this, situation update re: the allegedly molesting teacher at our middle school through a letter to an aunt.
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A common math teacher of ours at the middle school got arrested a few days ago under suspicion of sexual misconduct with a student after an investigation since October. Tyler commented on the online news reporting article (with nothing profane or anything; I don't remember exactly what he wrote because nothing in it struck me as anything controversial, but it supported the girl doing the accusing and not the teacher) using his whole name as the username for the comment, and did it during his study hall (which the school thinks gave them jurisdiction, I guess). I feel bad, because I told him afterwards (he emailed me right after he did it) that it was a great thing to do, signing your name to what you write, very grown-up to stand by your comments, but it appears to have gotten him screwed. They deemed it "blogging on a sensitive topic" and kicked him out for the two days before finals (which, as I'm sure you know, are fairly important).
I just think they sure better do the exact same thing to the members of the Free Mr. Wilder (the teacher) group on here that has posts besmirching the girl's character up one wall page and down the other, to the point of one girl saying that they should "cut her head off with a kite string". (I reported that to both Facebook and the principal yesterday morning, because I seriously wonder if the child is going to be safe; only just as of about an hour ago is the group gone, and I'd bet nobody actually got in trouble outside of school. Hmm, I wonder why?)
*Whew.* And the day of my giving an entire presentation to a communications class about the rules/precedent governing expression rights in newspaper opinion sections. I get passionate about free speech, if you couldn't tell, so this just blows my mind.
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Suspended. I'm unbelievably pissed. Normally, I'd assume that there was more to the situation than that, but knowing the situation, I doubt it. He wrote a comment on a news article. The only thing I can think that he did that they didn't like (besides just overall supporting the girl and not the teacher) would be to refer to the teacher's last name in his comment. So did a bunch of people, but his comment was on the first page. Still, suspend them too! Or better yet, actually teach your students the etiquette behind news reporting and commenting--that it's not usually done to identify persons involved in a sex crimes investigation, particularly if one's a minor and no charges have been filed. But that justifies the KSDK website removing and disabling the comments on that story, not school discipline.
Do I think I'm holding a double standard by condemning the teacher-supportive group's comments and standing by my brother's? No. If his had any kind of an incitement to violence, they'd be right along there with them. You also have to consider the subject--grown man vs. 16 year old girl. He can take the "he's a mean, horrible teacher" that my brother threw at him (and knowing how Wilder teaches, I knew that that was exactly what Tyler'd think of him years before he was in his class--he's the teasing, "fun" type that makes most people like him, but he tends to pick on kids to entertain the others, so some of them will come out hating him; my brother, being one of the more sensitive ones, would be in the latter group), but 'lying slut that needs her head cut off with a kitestring'? Totally different ballpark.
***
A common math teacher of ours at the middle school got arrested a few days ago under suspicion of sexual misconduct with a student after an investigation since October. Tyler commented on the online news reporting article (with nothing profane or anything; I don't remember exactly what he wrote because nothing in it struck me as anything controversial, but it supported the girl doing the accusing and not the teacher) using his whole name as the username for the comment, and did it during his study hall (which the school thinks gave them jurisdiction, I guess). I feel bad, because I told him afterwards (he emailed me right after he did it) that it was a great thing to do, signing your name to what you write, very grown-up to stand by your comments, but it appears to have gotten him screwed. They deemed it "blogging on a sensitive topic" and kicked him out for the two days before finals (which, as I'm sure you know, are fairly important).
I just think they sure better do the exact same thing to the members of the Free Mr. Wilder (the teacher) group on here that has posts besmirching the girl's character up one wall page and down the other, to the point of one girl saying that they should "cut her head off with a kite string". (I reported that to both Facebook and the principal yesterday morning, because I seriously wonder if the child is going to be safe; only just as of about an hour ago is the group gone, and I'd bet nobody actually got in trouble outside of school. Hmm, I wonder why?)
*Whew.* And the day of my giving an entire presentation to a communications class about the rules/precedent governing expression rights in newspaper opinion sections. I get passionate about free speech, if you couldn't tell, so this just blows my mind.
***
Suspended. I'm unbelievably pissed. Normally, I'd assume that there was more to the situation than that, but knowing the situation, I doubt it. He wrote a comment on a news article. The only thing I can think that he did that they didn't like (besides just overall supporting the girl and not the teacher) would be to refer to the teacher's last name in his comment. So did a bunch of people, but his comment was on the first page. Still, suspend them too! Or better yet, actually teach your students the etiquette behind news reporting and commenting--that it's not usually done to identify persons involved in a sex crimes investigation, particularly if one's a minor and no charges have been filed. But that justifies the KSDK website removing and disabling the comments on that story, not school discipline.
Do I think I'm holding a double standard by condemning the teacher-supportive group's comments and standing by my brother's? No. If his had any kind of an incitement to violence, they'd be right along there with them. You also have to consider the subject--grown man vs. 16 year old girl. He can take the "he's a mean, horrible teacher" that my brother threw at him (and knowing how Wilder teaches, I knew that that was exactly what Tyler'd think of him years before he was in his class--he's the teasing, "fun" type that makes most people like him, but he tends to pick on kids to entertain the others, so some of them will come out hating him; my brother, being one of the more sensitive ones, would be in the latter group), but 'lying slut that needs her head cut off with a kitestring'? Totally different ballpark.