Re: bad cyberbullying decision
EDTECH Editor-Jones
I believe you have good analogy. It is a similar situation to the school being
held responsible if the kids were using school equipment under the supervision
of a school employee. A more similar situation would be an adult buying alcohol
at a liquor store, going home, getting drunk, going driving, getting caught,
and then holding the liquor store responsible.
Edmund (Ted) Seidel
Sent from my iPhone
> From: Miles Fidelman <mfid...@meetinghouse.net>
>
> Is not the analogy really to a bar? If you leave a bar drunk, and get into a
> car, the bar owner can be held liable. If the bar owner can be shown to have
> been negligent (e.g., by allowing a clearly intoxicated patron to get into a
> car), the owner is very likely to get sued if the patron then gets into an
> accident; and will very likely lose the suit.
>
>> From: Susie Highley <shig...@warren.k12.in.us>
>> Ted:
>> That analogy would be more applicable if you had added that the person who
>> ran the red light already had a history of running red lights, but no one
>> had acted to get him off the road.
>> X-From: "Seidel, Ted" <ted.s...@pe.tamu.edu>
>> I believe this is were we have the problem. That any one would hold the
>> school
>> responsible is ridiculous. Another scenario: I am released from an
>> intersection
>> by a green light and get halfway through the intersection when someone runs
>> the
>> red at 55 mph and strikes my vehicle. May I then sue the city and police for
>> not foreseeing the situation and stopping the erroneous behavior? After all
>> this is vehicular harassment.
> --
> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
> In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
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SIGNOFF EDTECH
EDTECH Editor-Beil
The implication of safety regarding the traffic light comes from the mutual
willingness of drivers to abide by the laws when accepting the
responsibility/priviledge to drive an auto. This implication (some would say
illusion) of safety resides everywhere in our everyday lives and is only
maintained when we take responsibility for ourselves.
The scenario posed of an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and a
student has been played out many times. The teacher is breaking the law and is
held responsible by law enforcement not the school for the criminal act. I know
that teacher contracts vary from place to place but I would hope that there is
a stipulation in all for firing if found guilty of breaking the law.
If there is an implied warranty of safety at school how does it extend to
matters outside of school property/events? At what point does the warranty
expire? Does it cover feelings as well as physical harm? It certainly does not
cover when a child leaves school premises during school hours aka skipping.
This seems to be the responsibility of the parents (some having been threatened
with jail time) at least from the stories I have read and personal experience.
So if the school can't be responsible for insuring that a child remains on
school property once the child has been left at school how can they be
responsible once the child has rightfully left school property?We can't have it
both ways.
I would agree that responsibility must be metered out in accordance with the
ability of person to handle that responsibility. However, my view is that the
responsibility for the cyberbullying incident is in the hands of the parents as
the video was not created on school property or equipment. It was also not
against the law. The responsibility for the sexting incident ultimately lies
with the minor who took the pictures and sent them out. So, if they get their
feelings hurt then the lesson is to not engage in that behavior. The lesson
should not be to hold everyone else responsible. I believe there is also a
societal implication and there could be legal issues but those are outside of
the purview of the school.
Edmund (Ted) Seidel
Sent from my iPhone
---
EDTECH Editor-Beil
Susie,
I believe my analogy holds. My point is that the police cant be held
responsible. The driver that ran the light is responsible. Did the school have
prior knowledge that the video would be made and posted to YouTube? Was this a
recurring event? Did it take place on school grounds? If the police cannot be
held accountable for acts when they are not present then how could the school
be held responsible for acts off campus.
EDTECH Editor-Beil
I don't think the fact that there is only one area of responsibility when it
comes to bullying behavior. Obviously the bully has the primary
responsibility, but the bully's parents also have responsibility for a minor
child's behavior, and any other adult in authority who is a position to
discourage/prevent that misbehavior AND doesn't, would also bear some
responsibility. I think there is enough responsibility to go around, but
responsibility is not necessarily the same as legal liability. I think it
is a serious mistake to equate legal with moral, what we are legally
obligated to do with what we ought to do. Trying to find a direct parallel
for student behavior with adult behavior and responsibility seems
artificial. However the way we hold a bartender responsible for a drunk
once they have left the bar may have some bearing: when we don't confront
behavior that is wrong, we are then responsible for THAT choice WE made, and
its consequences - which means we have some (not the only nor the greatest)
responsibility for the final outcome.
Judith Claire Robison
St. John's Catholic Prep
Director of Technology