high school shenanigans

[cbacon 0]

High school suspends 19 for bullying principal on website

JAMES RUSK

 

A group of 19 students at a Roman Catholic high school in Caledon East who dissed their principal on a website popular with teenagers have been suspended for cyber bullying.

 

Bruce Campbell, communications director for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board, said yesterday that the originator of the chat group -- "McMahon, The Grinch of School Spirit" -- targeting school principal Edward McMahon, was suspended for eight days.

 

After the postings were brought to the principal's attention last week, 10 students were suspended for five days and eight others for three days for getting involved with the chat group on Facebook.com, a social networking site.

 

All but the originator have served their suspensions, and will be back at school today, Mr. Campbell said.

 

He said that, while the school board has dealt with students cyber bullying each other, he is not aware of any previous attack on a staff member, which is a transgression of the board's code of conduct.

 

However, attacks on school staffers turn up on some websites, such as RateMyTeachers.com, he said.

 

From discussions with a lawyer, Mr. Campbell said, "I understand that Facebook is an issue, not just with this school and this board, but at other schools and other boards across the province."

 

In the case of the postings about Mr. McMahon, which have been taken off the website, Mr. Campbell said they included sexually explicit remarks directed at him, and one of the suspended students said they also included pictures of Osama bin Laden and Adolf Hitler.

 

"This is very dangerous ground these kids are treading on. It's not conducive to the moral tone of the school, and it undermines authority. It is damaging to the reputation of this school administrator," Mr. Campbell said.

 

One of the students involved said the group included student-council members and the student president.

 

While she acknowledged that most of the posts slandered the principal and that the pictures were out of line, she feels the punishment was too harsh. She said some of the suspended students were listed as "officers" of the chat group without their approval, and that the suspensions could harm their chances of being accepted at university.

 

Mr. Campbell defended the suspensions. "If this was the case of one student cyber bullying another, an attack on a student like this, that would be an automatic 20-day suspension," he said.

 

 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

 

Ottawa school bans cell phones, iPods on property

 

Students at an Ottawa high school returning from March break will have to shut off their cellphones and unplug their iPods the moment they step onto school property.

 

All schools in the Catholic school board have a policy about using cell phones and other personal electronic devices (PEDs) inside the classroom. But Ottawa's Notre Dame Catholic High School is going one step further and banning their use outside the classroom as well.

 

School officials made the decision after someone posted visuals of a teacher and students in a school hallway on the popular on-line video portal YouTube.

 

School administrators said there was nothing "malicious" about the video clip, but they took issue after it was posted on the website without the teacher's consent.

 

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation said it has received a number of complaints from teachers on the issue.

 

"This wasn't serious, but it could have been more serous and this is a proactive approach," Notre Dame Catholic High School Principal Andre Potvin told CTV Ottawa. He added that the electronic devices also disrupt learning in the classroom.

 

A survey by the Media Awareness network found that nearly one in four students has a cellphone -- and 41 per cent have an MP3 player or iPod. Some Notre Dame students said their electronic devices are a necessity.

 

"What if we need to contact our parents? We won't be able to," said student Leah Phillips.

 

"They're going over the edge. Don't penalize all of us for a few people doing bad things," said Mandy Button.

 

But the parent council supports the ban. Michael Fitzpatrick, the Notre Dame Parent Council chair, says "We don't have a problem at Notre Dame and this is making sure we don't. Kids and cameras can be volatile."

 

Don't understand people who hate kids yet become teachers. I'm going to up the ante and say that teachers don't need any authority over students anywhere. Educators should act as facilitators of student-directed learning and the student-teacher relationship should be one of equals.

 

Also what is up with all these Catholic schools, this is like the 21st century Ontario

[cbacon 0]

Interested in Jerk's input

[vivalaultra 0]

Don't understand people who hate kids yet become teachers. I'm going to up the ante and say that teachers don't need any authority over students anywhere. Educators should act as facilitators of student-directed learning and the student-teacher relationship should be one of equals.

 

That would never work. It's a hippie-ish idea, and it would never, ever work. Teenagers, by and large, aren't mature enough to act in such a way, as evidenced by them posting derogatory messages about others on internet websites. The student teacher relationship shouldn't be 'equal' any more than the police officer/civilian relationship should be equal. If students were put in a position to feel equal with their teachers, how would that suddenly wipe out behavorial problems of students? If Johnny Student walks into class and starts being disruptive, how is the teacher (who is on an equal level of J. Student in this scenario) supposed to rectify the situation? The teacher says, "Johnny, stop being disruptive, please." and the student says, "Fuck you! You can't tell me what to do! We're equal in this facilitation of student-directed learning, biatch!" Not only are teachers needed to be in a position of authority of students in order to control their sometimes disruptive behavior, they also need to be seen as more than equal partners in order to adequately facilitate the information and learning process necessary to shape young minds. You try telling 800 15 and 16 year olds that they're 'equal' with the guy standing in front of their class teaching them Algebra and see how many of them learn how to solve inequalities using the slope/intercept formula. Ultimately, teachers should act as more than a facilitator of student-directed learning; they should also serve as moral compasses on the path to becoming sucessful, responsible adults (although that doesn't always happen, depending on the quality of the teacher). If educators were merely facilitators of information, schools could save money by firing all the teachers and using computer programs to teach students their lessons.

[cbacon 0]

Ever wonder why students feel the need to be disruptive in the first place?

[Slayer 0]

Teenagers, by and large, aren't mature enough to act in such a way, as evidenced by them posting derogatory messages about others on internet websites.

Goddamn I hate you

[vivalaultra 0]

No home training. I see where you're going, but I disagree with you. I assume that you're saying that students feel the need to be disruptive because of overbearing teachers or asshole teachers or something about how teachers are being mean to students for no apparent reason so students are being reactionary, but I really, really don't think that's correct at all.

[vivalaultra 0]

Teenagers, by and large, aren't mature enough to act in such a way, as evidenced by them posting derogatory messages about others on internet websites.

Goddamn I hate you

 

You don't hate me, you just hate my doggystyle.

[Jason223_ThePit 0]

Good for the school. There's no damn reason why kids should be walking around with all that crap. They are there to LEARN. Period. Not to text each other about who got booted off American Idol or other stupid shit.

[NYU 0]

That was always the way it was. Before texting, kids would pass notes to each other instead. That's just how kids are -- you're not going to get them to focus 100% on their learning, no matter what you do.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I don't know why parents feel the need to get their kids cell phones anyway, or allow them to have them on all the time.

 

 

The constant limp-wristed refrain whenever this argument comes up: "What if we need to contact our parents? We won't be able to," said student Leah Phillips.

 

Invader3K says: Use a fucking land line like students have for the past fifty years, you stupid cunt. You'd think kids today would die if they didn't have a cell phone for a day.

 

 

C-Bacon, your ideas come from a completely demented and warped idea of the world. You know there's no way in hell a teacher-student relationship of equals would work. But, you think that's just how the world should be, so you insist on it anyway. Everyone should live in harmony and all that garbage.

[Guest CWMwasmurdered]

C-Bacon, your ideas come from a completely demented and warped idea of the world.

 

[Slayer 0]

There's a troika that hasn't shown it's face for awhile

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Racist!

[Ripper 0]

Part of school is teaching you to survive in the real world gradually. Them being equal with their superiors is not teaching them the true nature of the real world.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Why is in college students have more respect for the instructor? Is it because the students want to be there or is it because people pay a lot money to go to school?

 

I kind of understand banning Ipods because they can get broken and stolen but it would be too hard to ban cell phones because they are more prevailent.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The "nationalist" who hates foreigners and black people in ghettos vs. The knee jerk reactionist who blames everything on America.

 

It's the war of the stereotypes!

[EricMM 0]

There have been equal relationships between teachers and students that worked in a way.

 

But that depends on the kid wanting to learn...

[Dobbs 3K 0]

You're right, there have been plenty of relationships where students and teachers were equals that worked out fine. Mary Kay Laterno would be one great example.

 

The thing about college students is easy...college students are more mature than high school students. Also, you're right, in that because many students are paying for at least part of their education, they tend to take it a lot more seriously. If they don't, the school will expel them or ask them to leave, which doesn't happen in public high schools.

[snuffbox 0]

Equal relationships require sex?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

It was a joke.

[cbacon 0]

C-Bacon, your ideas come from a completely demented and warped idea of the world.

 

Says the guy who advocates the death penalty for teenagers that give pot to two year olds.

 

Part of school is teaching you to survive in the real world gradually. Them being equal with their superiors is not teaching them the true nature of the real world.

 

Are you saying people aren't equal in the real world?

 

No home training. I see where you're going, but I disagree with you. I assume that you're saying that students feel the need to be disruptive because of overbearing teachers or asshole teachers or something about how teachers are being mean to students for no apparent reason so students are being reactionary, but I really, really don't think that's correct at all.

 

I think that problem can be pretty much eliminated by changing the class atmosphere. We don't have that problem in the universities. Students are disruptive when they don't want to be there. In student-directed education everyone is there because they want to be.

 

I don't believe students disrespect teachers for no reason. I would bet the teachers in question could stand to learn a thing or two about respect. We've all had plenty of experience with teachers that treat students with disrespect. If a student wants to call a teacher a dick that's an issue for the student and the teacher to settle the same way you and I would settle it if I called you a dick. There's no need for "disciplinary" action of any kind.

 

Many students feel that being forced to attend class is a waste of their time. If teachers are abused by students daily then the reverse is also true. But that's like saying that some kids are "abusive" towards their parents. The problems are caused by the nature of the relationship. You can't have respect without equality.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschool

 

Unschoolers often believe that learning any specific subject is less important than learning 'how' to learn. They believe, in the words of Alec Bourne, "It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated," and in the words of John Holt,

 

"Since we can’t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned."

 

This ability to learn on their own makes it more likely that later, when these children are adults, they can continue to learn what they need to know to meet newly emerging needs, interests, and goals. They can return to any subject that they feel wasn't sufficiently covered or learn a completely new subject.

 

In fact, many unschoolers do not believe that there is a particular body of knowledge that every person, regardless of the life they lead, needs to possess. They believe that "Children... if they are given access to enough of the world, they will see clearly enough what things are truly important to themselves and to others, and they will make for themselves a better path into that world than anyone else could make for them."

[cbacon 0]

Good for the school. There's no damn reason why kids should be walking around with all that crap. They are there to LEARN. Period. Not to text each other about who got booted off American Idol or other stupid shit.

 

I'd go so far as to say kids need these camera phones to document the atrocious behaviour of some teachers, who have no other reason to fear being filmed and youtubed. The fact is when kids finally complain about a teacher they aren't believed unless they have video proof.

 

I mean look at any of the myriad "crazy teacher" vids on youtube. I don't care what the teachers' union says, that stuff needs to be documented so that kind of totally unacceptable behaviour can be addressed.

 

And really, the only argument to support banning these things is the tired old authoritarian, "kids need to be controlled." Remember what it was like to be a kid? It's pretty easy to justify treating a group of people like shit if you can pretend you're better than them, but that's what we call racism and sexism, rite?

[Mike wanna be 0]

Many students feel that being forced to attend class is a waste of their time.

Couldn't agree more. You want more proof, watch that new TV show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?". Taking some of the smartest of the smart and making them look like buffoons; it's supposed to be funny because they can't answer the questions, but when you look past that you realize that it's really a mockery of the American educational system.

 

Seriously, when you ask someone like a lawyer a question and he can't answer it, but a fifth grader can, what does that say about the usefulness of a fifth grade education? They had to use fifth graders; fourth or lower would be too easy and a sixth grader would eventually be smart enough to figure out who the joke was really on.

 

As for iPods and cell phones...are kids using them when they're playing sports or doing something they want to do? No, because they aren't bored out of their skull learning meaningless drivel. Math and English should be compulsory, everything else required for one year so you get a taste of what it's like and what's involved, and after that you make your own decisions.

[Guest Eagle Man]

Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, I agree with most of what C-Bacon thinks on an issue.

 

Good for the school. There's no damn reason why kids should be walking around with all that crap. They are there to LEARN. Period. Not to text each other about who got booted off American Idol or other stupid shit.

Yes. Kids have never prattled on about stupid bullshit at school until THE TEXTING OF DOOM. What happended to The Good Old Days? Furthermore, everyone has conceded that high school is just as much--if not more--about social interaction as it is about straight-ahead learning. Of course they're going to clandestinely communicate. This is nothing new.

 

I'd go so far as to say kids need these camera phones to document the atrocious behaviour of some teachers, who have no other reason to fear being filmed and youtubed. The fact is when kids finally complain about a teacher they aren't believed unless they have video proof.

I've mentioned before that at the ol' alma mater, some kids caught a math teacher sleeping in class in this fashion, and notified the front office, getting him fired. Good for them. Get those putzes out.

 

I don't believe students disrespect teachers for no reason. I would bet the teachers in question could stand to learn a thing or two about respect. We've all had plenty of experience with teachers that treat students with disrespect. If a student wants to call a teacher a dick that's an issue for the student and the teacher to settle the same way you and I would settle it if I called you a dick. There's no need for "disciplinary" action of any kind.

I also think you should be able to call a teacher a dick if he's being a dick. (I know I've come close.) There should be mutual respect between teachers and students, and the aforementioned situation should never have to happen. Think back to the best teachers of your high school years. I don't mean the pushovers that gave easy As, rather the ones from whom you took the most knowledge and personal growth. I can't speak for your experiences, but my best teachers were those who treated me with respect and as a unique person, rather than just a kid in a grid of desks. They were the ones who fostered discussions and dialogues, independent learning, stuff that made me feel like I mattered. The authoritarians? Fuck 'em. I got nothing from them, other than a sense of satisfaction from giving them a hard time. The good teachers get it. The bad ones are the ones playing king of the room.

[The Niggardly King 0]

didn't expect to see that reaction from you

[Guest Eagle Man]

Why not? I've said similar things to this effect in prior arguments along these lines. I think I've always been an advocate of students' rights, contingent on the students not being knuckle-dragging dumbshits that abuse those rights. "When conservatives try to be activists," I guess.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

QUOTE

Part of school is teaching you to survive in the real world gradually. Them being equal with their superiors is not teaching them the true nature of the real world.

 

 

Are you saying people aren't equal in the real world?/QUOTE

 

Yes, people in fact AREN'T equal in the real world. That's the reality. Have you been in the real world, or are you still in your plastic bubble of secondary education?

[SuperJerk 0]

Ever wonder why students feel the need to be disruptive in the first place?

Three reasons:

 

-they lack the skills to do the work, so they act up to get out of doing it

(I'm Sp. Ed., so my instruction methods pretty much have to eliminate this one if I want to get anything done.)

 

-they're bored and want to get everyone off track for their own amusement

(The kid probably just needs some attention, so I try to make the kid feel more included in the lesson by revolving an example around them or asking them to help me by passing out papers, writing stuff on the board for me, or asking him question and try to relate whatever it is he's saying to what we're learning about.)

 

-they want to get kicked out of class so they can sit in the office and do nothing

(I ask them to sit quitely and take a zero...at least that way they'll still have to hear part of the lesson instead of sitting in the office and doing nothing.)

 

Too many teacher just want to stand in front of the class and lecture, instead of doing learning activities that get kids involved or get them to be curious about what they're learning. Its not easy to do this, or else everyone would do it, but it is necessary.

 

I'm generally against kids bringing iPods and cell phones to school because they either use it when they shouldn't, or they make themselves a target to get their stuff stolen because many of them bring so much attention to the fact they have it (i.e. "Check out my new ringtone." or "Look how tiny my iPod is!").

 

Most teenagers, especially the younger ones, lack the self-discipline to be in charge of their own education, and often don't even think an education is necessary. I'd say roughly 75% of American teens don't see the value of learning anything that won't immediately reward them with material goods. Getting kids to see the value of education is one of those struggles every teacher has to deal with on a constant basis.

 

I don't treat the kids like cattle, but if a student think you're doing what you're doing because you care about it and them, they tend to work harder. And the reality of education is that if you don't genuinely care about kids, you won't be motivated to perform YOUR job at 100%, either.

 

We're not social equals, because teacher who don't let the kids know who is in charge just get walked all over, but its never a good idea to talk down to them or insult them in any way. You can be in charge without getting on a power trip.

 

We don't have that problem in the universities.

 

That's the difference between a system that is compulsary for 14-18 year olds, and a system that is voluntary for 18-22 year olds.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

When I saw the topic title "High School Shenanigans"..I thought it was gonna be about the 2 6th graders having sex in the lab during class with the other students watching and the teacher unware of it going on for a quite a length of time..

 

Anyway..I can remember 10 years ago when I was in high school..granted Cell phones weren't advanced as they are now..but if you had one..you were a gang member or drug dealer so you couldnt have em. You couldn't have a portable CD player either although I dont know the reason.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Kids shouldn't have CD players in school. There's no valid reason for it. It's just a distraction.

 

I remember a friend's high school had a ban on pagers. Same reason, it was assumed you were involved in drugs, though I can't think of any other reason a high school kid would need a pager.