What would you do?

[milkmania]

A friend texted me tonight.... he son was suspended 10 days today.
A teacher gave her son a school project, so he searched google for how to build a fire without a lighter or matches...
He watched one video, then clicked one of the supplemental links on the side

How to make a pen bomb! (Great for April fools)
http://youtu.be/0iwgaW5MQaU

she wants to fight the suspension, and she's asking what she should do....
I'm texting and asking her direct questions and pointing out that she will need to be documenting in order to approach the school board.
such as,
1) What is the teacher's story that assigned the project?
2) Was this the teacher that reported the video?
3) What is school's policy for YouTube videos?
4) Did she sign the school's internet usage policy?
5) What programs does the school use to monitor or prohibit websites?

My son;s school has software that prohibits youtube, ebay, facebook, etc....
and the technical school I substitute at uses Baracuda network filtering software that blocks just about every damn thing you can imagine, under the direction of the IT Administrator.

what would you do if this was your kid?

[Double D]

Fight it! Its amazing what you get with innocent searches. The school should do a better job of blocking certain sites.

[milkmania]

I'm telling her that she needs to fight it, but also to be prepared when she approaches the school board.
If my kid were in this situation... I'd fight it.

But, only after all the facts were gathered.

[jhall0711]

The school will say they have a "Zero Tolerance" policy..... and if they make any exceptions... well that wouldnt be "zero Tolerance"....

I agree I would certainly fight it to some degree.... and yes some of the blame should go to the school for not blocking websites... but I am not sure how far the parents will get.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by jhall0711

The school will say they have a "Zero Tolerance" policy..... and if they make any exceptions... well that wouldnt be "zero Tolerance"....

I agree I would certainly fight it to some degree.... and yes some of the blame should go to the school for not blocking websites... but I am not sure how far the parents will get.

If they want to have a "Zero Tolerance" policy, it's their job to make damn sure this kind of information or link is impossible to reach on their computers.

[gocougs]

WOW, there are a lot of "teacher haters" on this post! It's funny to me that because a member states it is thier child that got in trouble for doing something they knew was not allowed, most responses are against the teacher blaming them for tempting the student to click on a video we assume says something about making a pen bomb. My guess, being a teacher for 23 years that maybe the student will claim some responsibility in this and learn a lesson. First amendment rights aren't the same in the classroom as they are on the streets or in your homes.
I could just imagine, with the support from the good members on this site if I randomly stated that as a teacher, I had a student tell me they didn't mean to click on a site that said how to make a pen bomb, that I would get all the support and the parents and child should take responsibility for their actions.
Sorry, but with the climate of the schools and shootings lately, we are still in a very reactionary response mode with instant gun laws and added security in the country.
Just needed to rant a bit!
Thanks

[FrankSchwab]

This is a great teaching opportunity.

Go and challenge the suspension - but bring the child with you. Make sure you're prepared, and keep your cool. Ask why curiosity is being stomped on, rather than action. Let them try to explain it.

Then, when they uphold the suspension (which, in the currently PC environment they will), explain to the child that, sometimes, government bureaucrats are *#$#(__#( idiots, and shouldn't be trusted as the absolute guardians of, well, anything. Make sure they understand that what they did was fine, but even so there can be consequences.

And, during the suspension, make it slightly unpleasant (room cleaning, bathroom cleaning, etc), but also make it a celebration of intellectual freedom - take them to the park, to the local amusement park, whatever. Let them know that curiosity and intellectual pursuits are great things, even though some of those pursuits are frowned upon in current society. Take them someplace slightly dangerous (Burning Man) to let them know that there are people outside the mainstream.

[medicmoose]

Originally Posted by FrankSchwab

This is a great teaching opportunity.

Go and challenge the suspension - but bring the child with you. Make sure you're prepared, and keep your cool. Ask why curiosity is being stomped on, rather than action. Let them try to explain it.

Then, when they uphold the suspension (which, in the currently PC environment they will), explain to the child that, sometimes, government bureaucrats are *#$#(__#( idiots, and shouldn't be trusted as the absolute guardians of, well, anything. Make sure they understand that what they did was fine, but even so there can be consequences.

And, during the suspension, make it slightly unpleasant (room cleaning, bathroom cleaning, etc), but also make it a celebration of intellectual freedom - take them to the park, to the local amusement park, whatever. Let them know that curiosity and intellectual pursuits are great things, even though some of those pursuits are frowned upon in current society. Take them someplace slightly dangerous (Burning Man) to let them know that there are people outside the mainstream.

These are some of the problems that the classrooms are facing....you can't make rules because someone out there will be offended. Sure there's curiosity....left to their own devices every Grade 6 boy would like to explore their curiosity of porn while sitting in the classroom. Oh wait, you might want that rule followed right?

Celebration of intellectual freedom is great so long as you follow a few rules/guidelines. If you don't want to follow the established rules...do it on your own time.

The one thing I find so prevalent in today's society is that everyone wants their kids to be able to "express themselves", to "do it their way", and to challenge authority at every turn. Well guess what...some of these douche kids end up graduating and come to me looking for employment. I'm then stuck with these kids on my staff who don't want to follow the policies and think it is okay to campaign against any authority....because their whole life they've had parents telling them that no one can tell them what to do and then they have their parents go to battle for them.

Time to teach our kids that they need to be responsible and if they screw up...there might be consequences. We are not teaching them anything if we run to their aid every second and fail to teach them to intelligently respond to occurrences that may seem unfair!!

Ever seen one of those stereotypical "hockey parents"???? You know, the crazy ones that scream and yell at the ref and get into fights in the viewing area. Yup...keep trying to fight your kids battles and make societies problems exponentially worse!

Of course....just my opinion...carry on

[j2nh]

I would first find out how the school knew he visited the youtube page for a pen bomb. Assuming it is a browser history I would ask to see it. Were there other inappropriate sites or videos visited?

I would ask for a copy of the schools internet use policy.

I would ask what controls the school uses to prevent inappropriate websites from being accessed.

I would point out that the "pen bomb video" is not really an instruction for a bomb at all. It's a stupid party favor modification.

I would also point out that even if youtube's "safe" mode is toggled on this video still shows up.

None of this adds up to a 10 day suspension. Usually I come down pretty hard on kids who misbehave at school and side with the administration but this is over the top.

If your son is suspended for 10 days ask what discipline was taken against the IT person for not blocking youtube videos, or against the teacher for giving an assignment that, when you consider it, was pretty poorly worded. "how to build a fire without a lighter or matches" is bound to have search results that are questionable. Did the teacher give instructions on what resources could be used? Did the teacher do a search prior to the assignment and see what kind of results would show up?

Or was this just the last straw with a kid who has been walking the line for a long time.

Good luck.

[milkmania]

excellent points guys!
Thanks, I copied and pasted the responses to her in a text message

hope I don't blow her phone up!!!!