Teen suspended for showing....

[Titi]

the TRUTH about bullying! And she did it as a school project!

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/...youtube-video/

[kamn]

A few things after reading the article:

She did a GREAT job. The dedication displayed here actually concerns me if she has or is experiencing anything similar, or if she simply read about the symptoms. Most people that have not been bullied at least once (in my experience) have no idea what it can be like.
If she displays this kind of dedication to her other projects, she will do well in school.

How did a parent come across this page? Did they just randomly search all the Bennetts? And while I applaud their concern, they should first try to ascertain if the story is true, or if its someone trying to look like a victim (drama queen, martyrs), or if its for a project of some kind (as was the case here).

The school went WAY overboard. I can understand them if they asked her to shut down that particular project. I can even understand the initial reaction, it DID cause some trouble for them. But once they got the whole story, they should have dropped the whole issue. Not threaten her with jailtime!

[fireheart17]

Looks like the principal and the school will most likely be getting hate mail for this

Somebody posted the phone numbers for both the principal AND the superintendent.

[Andara Bledin]

I want to know what sort of "disruption" the video caused that the school thought it necessary to suspend her.

Seems to me that her suspension has caused more disruption than her project managed.

^-.-^

[Kelmon]

Huh? How is this of any concern to the school, let alone warranting "6 months of jail time"?

[Lace Neil Singer]

I think the Facebook page was a bit too much; Facebook does not allow ficticious pages. She could have just stayed with the video, and perhaps made an online diary on another site instead. But I still don't see any grounds for suspension.

[SkullKing]

I think the Facebook page was a bit too much; Facebook does not allow ficticious pages. She could have just stayed with the video, and perhaps made an online diary on another site instead. But I still don't see any grounds for suspension.

Frankly what disturbs me the most was the school telling the girl she could get six months of jail time for it.

this is appalling

[Rageaholic]

It sounds like the concern was that she created a fake facebook page with the names of real students leaving the harassing comments. But since she left disclaimers, this is a huge HUGE overreaction. The school principle has become the bully here.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Wow that's messed up. That girl did a great job.

I can sort of get the issue with the Facebook page but its still a huge overreaction. Anyone else find it kind of ironic the school is essentially bullying her because of an anti-bullying project?

[tropicsgoddess]

I think the Facebook page was a bit too much; Facebook does not allow ficticious pages. She could have just stayed with the video, and perhaps made an online diary on another site instead. But I still don't see any grounds for suspension.

Frankly what disturbs me the most was the school telling the girl she could get six months of jail time for it.

this is appalling

The six months in jail thing and the suspension are ridiculous. She really told the truth on how bullying is truly affecting today's youth. Bullying is something that should be taken seriously by everyone and nobody should stand idly while somebody gets hurt.

It sounds like the concern was that she created a fake facebook page with the names of real students leaving the harassing comments. But since she left disclaimers, this is a huge HUGE overreaction. The school principle has become the bully here.

I agree that the fake Facebook page a bit much but it did serve it's purpose for the project. I think that her message was on how bullying in all forms can truly affect people.

[MaggieTheCat]

I have to agree that the Facebook page may have taken it a bit too far, but it does show how dedicated and how much work she put into this project. Plus, she's a high school freshman...and may not have been aware of all of Facebook's policies or thought it would garner such a strong reaction. I'd chalk it up to a learning experience; now she knows to be more familiar with website/company policies, etc.

Also I am really curious how she could go to jail for 6 months for this. I notice the principal dropped that little bomb on her, but didn't seem to explain WHY she could go to jail, or at least it wasn't reported in the article.

[Greenday]

I don't see anything that she did as taking it too far. She may have violated the TOS with facebook, but really, I don't see why anyone cares about that. Using youtube and facebook to get her point across was a great idea. 99% of kids these days have facebook and use youtube so it makes sense to use them as tools for her project.

The principal is just plain stupid though. He had no reason to suspend her and threatening her with jail time when she hadn't committed any crimes is downright stupid. He's clearly too unintelligent for his position.

[bara]

Video extremely well done. Im curious as to why the school felt suspension was required.

[lordlundar]

You know how you can tell if you did a REALLY good job? When you invoke the same responses out of people that they would give if it was real.

And she shouldn't worry about that principal too much. He's just an idiot who is trying to protect his job by trying to cover up a real problem that he overlooked. He's hit a brick wall in his life, realizes it and is jealous.

The teen on the other hand should hold onto that video and put it in a portfolio when she graduates. I can see any number of media outlets wanting to hire her.

[Duelist925]

*snip*

The teen on the other hand should hold onto that video and put it in a portfolio when she graduates. I can see any number of media outlets wanting to hire her.

Oh yeah. That thing was incredibly well done. And with any luck, it'll go viral thanks to all this.