Letter to the Herald
Hi all,
I've just read an article in the Herald which is a thinly-velied reference to recent incidents at the School Which Shall Remain Nameless. So I've drafted a letter - it will probably never get published, but I'm posting it for comments before I send it, and am open to suggestions for improvement. I am really angry about this incident and would like to be able to do something about it.
Sir,
I am a parent at the school involved in the alleged cyber-bullying incidents ("Blogging bullies face legal pain, schools warned", Herald, October 2nd). My son and I are both members of the livejournal.com community, and I have to say that I believe the whole incident is a massive over-reaction from those who have no understanding of the nature of blogs, and no respect for the freedom of students to express dissent. As far as I am aware, no teacher has been defamed - I have read the offending posts, and the comments made were trivial and no worse than playground gripes. The bullying, in fact, is very much the other way - students are being bullied and intimidated by the school staff. Police were brought in to talk to the whole school - it was complete overkill. One student was suspended for comments she made about a teacher to another student who then posted the comment on her blog. How can a student be suspended for hearsay?
What next? Will there be microphones hidden in the playground, ready to beef up a hefty defamation suit against some cheeky larrikin? Will notes passed in class be counted as evidence?
I will not sign an agreement that supports this kind of authoritarian practice. I prefer to maintain an open, trusting relationship with my children - if I want to know what's going on in the kids' blogs, I join the community and play by their rules. So far I haven't seen any bullying, just a bit of teenage stupidity and a lot of mutual support and humour. The support was particularly impressive last year when a student died in a tragic incident. If the kids can't express their grief and rage in their own online community, where will they go? Leave the blogs alone and focus on more important things, like teaching standards.
Sincerely,
(me).
What do you reckon?
I've just read an article in the Herald which is a thinly-velied reference to recent incidents at the School Which Shall Remain Nameless. So I've drafted a letter - it will probably never get published, but I'm posting it for comments before I send it, and am open to suggestions for improvement. I am really angry about this incident and would like to be able to do something about it.
Sir,
I am a parent at the school involved in the alleged cyber-bullying incidents ("Blogging bullies face legal pain, schools warned", Herald, October 2nd). My son and I are both members of the livejournal.com community, and I have to say that I believe the whole incident is a massive over-reaction from those who have no understanding of the nature of blogs, and no respect for the freedom of students to express dissent. As far as I am aware, no teacher has been defamed - I have read the offending posts, and the comments made were trivial and no worse than playground gripes. The bullying, in fact, is very much the other way - students are being bullied and intimidated by the school staff. Police were brought in to talk to the whole school - it was complete overkill. One student was suspended for comments she made about a teacher to another student who then posted the comment on her blog. How can a student be suspended for hearsay?
What next? Will there be microphones hidden in the playground, ready to beef up a hefty defamation suit against some cheeky larrikin? Will notes passed in class be counted as evidence?
I will not sign an agreement that supports this kind of authoritarian practice. I prefer to maintain an open, trusting relationship with my children - if I want to know what's going on in the kids' blogs, I join the community and play by their rules. So far I haven't seen any bullying, just a bit of teenage stupidity and a lot of mutual support and humour. The support was particularly impressive last year when a student died in a tragic incident. If the kids can't express their grief and rage in their own online community, where will they go? Leave the blogs alone and focus on more important things, like teaching standards.
Sincerely,
(me).
What do you reckon?