I couldn't help but be moved by this story... A teenage girl was caught writing a death wish on her math teacher on facebook and was immediately suspended. But it's not that simple.
The severity of the punishment did not match the cause...I understand that internet bullying is a tremendous problem and teens everywhere are victimized and traumatized by it. Their home is no longer a safe haven if they are constantly exposed and pursued by the community online.
But as the girl broke down on camera in regret and sorrow, I had to feel for her, and her mother, who was honestly surprised by her daughter's uncharacteristic maliciousness. The 13-yr old had no mal-intent and thought it would go away like so many other facebook posts. She was shocked when her principal, basing his actions on a single phone call, suspended her for 3 days. Without calling her mother. Without anyone else talking about it at school. Without any sense of protecting the student from herself, only punishing the student for her simple and typical teenage sentiment. Several friends' parents forbid their children from talking to her because they said she was a bad influence.
This is the complicated and confusing world that young teens are so easily hurt by. Typical teen blunders are suddenly broadcasted louder than before, more permanently than ever, and before they're fully aware of the implications of their actions. I think that moments like this are teaching moments, not moments for capital punishment. Especially on a first offense.
Take a look at the video link below and tell me...do you agree? Am I being too naive?
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/05/20/drew.facebook.suspension.hln?hpt=C2
this one's pretty complicated, I think. She's a cute kid, she seems puzzled by the response to what she said. And if were not for one word, I might agree that she's been unfairly singled out. That word is "Columbine". If anyone had been paying attention, that tragedy might have been averted. Maybe if they'd been questioned, given punishment, maybe they'd have looked sweet and innocent, and said "we thought people might laugh" or maybe steps could have been taken to protect them and their victims. Since then, most of the cyber bullying worry has been about kids targeting kids. At least one teenaged girl has killed herself, devastated by threats, allegations, taunts. A good friend of yours and mine is going through hell right now, trying to find ways to help her teen stepdaughter take responsibility, to understand consequences for actions. Maybe in the overall scheme of things, three days to think about cause and effect is the shortest path to that goal. A three day suspension for cheating on a math test would not be unusual. Three days for posting publicly that you wish the math teacher was dead is surely as heinous as hiding a crib note.
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