Help daughter suspended for facebook post!

[vinnygal]

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate any advise you can give me. My daughter is in Upper 6th about to sit her A levels. I have visited the school on countless occasions over the last year, as have other parents, over the quality of teaching from the Sociology department. The class set a resit exam in January and the got their results a few weeks ago with everyone getting an E grade! In my daughters frustration she took a photo of the school mission statement, the first line being along the lines that they aim to provide a first class education, and posted it on her facebook profile with the caption ' First class my a**' The school found out about this post and have threatened her with the police for libel and have suspended her for 5 days. In the letter I have received it states 'your daughter posted a very derogatory and defamatory picture and comment on facebook about the school. This behaviour is unacceptable and it is for this reason she is being suspended'

I will be phoning the head tomorrow and was wondering what help or advise you could give me. I know she has been foolish but I do think the school have been a bit harsh in their punishment. She was made remove the post and replace it with an apology where she admitted to being childish and immature. I can not see how this post amounts to libel or is as the school pointed out, a criminal offence!

Thanks in advance :)

Whilst it's never a good idea to bitch about your school on Facebook (or anywhere else), the school don't know what they are talking about. The Police won't give a hoot, they don't prosecute for this as it's a civil matter. Also, there's no defence if the person stating the fact believes it to be true. It's incredibly heavy handed IMO.

the school is being ridiculous. But unfortunatly the onus on her in a civil case would be for her to prove that it is accurate. The school don't have to prove anything, such is the law.

Vinnygal, certainly don't think the outcome is to keep her opinions to herself, just vent them constructively for a good outcome. With regards to making complaints, is the head teacher aware of the feedback? If so, is there a district council or something higher than the school that can be asked to investigate?

The school should have an internet policy. You need to read what that says about the steps the school can / may take if a student posts on Facebook. It should be something similar to a disciplinary procedure but there will be a process and your daughter should have been informed about it and signed up to it at the start of the acaddemic year. My DD is in Y3 and each year we have to read the document to her, explain the contents and from Y3 she has to sign it like a contract. There are separate policies for bullying etc.

Can I suggest your daughter puts herself in the school's position. If someone put her photo onto Facebook with something along the lines of "Intelligent my a*" then she would justifiably be upset. I'd start with an apology and a committment not to do this again. If you can delete it, do. Or ask Facebook to remove it.

Henry1980 - actually, libel in England has a reverse burden of proof - it is up to the defendant to prove that she did not defame the claimant - bonkers, but there it is.

"Also, there's no defence if the person stating the fact believes it to be true." that is rubbish. The onus would be on her to prove that it is true rather than the school to prove that it isn't. I do agree that the police wouldn't be interested in terms of proceeding with any kind of charge, but that still doesn't make what she did any less wrong.

Is this libelous or just expressing opinion? Perhaps someone with a bit of legal knowledge can clarify... The school has overreacted, but your dd has been unwise and indiscreet. I'm sure she realizes this now . I hope things work out well tomorrow.

Doh, sorry. I have numa numa going through my head. (ds!) wannaBe is right, I wasn't.

correction would have to prove what was said was incorrect, seems accurate to me tho'

baffledmum - if someone did the same to her, she might be upset, but if she was in a position of power would she be justified in exercising that power in order to exact retribution? People and institutions in the public eye have to put up with criticism - it's fundamental to freedom of speech and democracy.

Assuming this is a state school, it is an organ of the state and should reflect the democratic values of the state - this includes not suppressing speech.

And frankly, the kind of petty, vindictive little weasels (unfortunately still quite common in schools) who decide to make examples out of students for this kind of minor insubordination really need to take a look at themselves.

If the school has publicly promised you a "first-class education" and then actually delivered a string of substitute teachers (who are never in a position to do much real teaching), then surely they should be more concerned about you sueing them to recover fees and as compensation for future loss of earnings?

Don't let the bully you just because your daughter voiced her frustration in public. She had a perfect right to do so.

She goes to a school and the school consider her to have behaved inapproriately. If they haven't acted in accordance with their a disciplinary process then they are in breach and she may be reinstated.

Cut out the emotion- go back to basics. If a child does this at that school, what steps can the school take? If they have acted within their code of conduct then they are on safe ground. If they haven't, the parents can act swiftly to have their daughter reinstated.

Address the low levels of achievement through the appropriate channels.

WannaBe, it is completely different if a contracted employee, paid to be a member of the organisation, posts derogatory comments, to a pupil expressing dissatisfaction with the service they are entitled to receive.

Hah- look at the comments made all over MN about various hospitals, schools, council services - should all those posters be subject to a criminal prosecution?

OP - I would ask to see all the relevant school codes of conduct, re school rules, parent / school agreement, and see if this contravenes any of it. Ask to see the discipline policy and the arrangements for appealing an exclusion.

I would get her to apologise (she already has, on FB, but in a letter to the Head) and then i would separately appeal the exclusion, to the governors, and do whatever, thorugh official routes, you can do to get them to admit that all is not well in the sociology dept.

If she had put a short factual statement such as 'out of ** people, every student in sociology got an E' they would hardly have been able to complain, would they?

It is awful when teachers are off sick. For everyone. And actually very difficult to deal with, particularly in a niche subject like sociology, when there isn't a department full of people who can step in. I understand everyone's frustration with this.

Foolish thing to do though.

Tell them libel is a civil matter, and your defence will be fair comment - backed up by their appalling results...

It's only libellous if it's untrue. But showing that the education isn't "first class" is so subjective - presumably the rest of the school's results are reasonable?

My only advice is to bypass the over-reacting Head and talk to the Chair of Governors. You may get a different viewpoint there - they can't possibly want this to go any further; the press for them would be shit.

Does the suspension have any ramifications for her Uni place - I'm assuming school references to Universities would be all done and dusted by now?

I am with your daughter on this one. Not fair at all - and I am a teacher. She vented her feelings somewhere she felt was private and was "told on" by a friend. Yes, you have to be careful on Facebook but she was communicating with a trusted group of friends, perhaps naively, but she was not putting up posters or graffiti in a public place. I think the school has completely over-reacted and should be questioning themselves over why a pupil was angry enough to vent in this way. She owes the school nothing but they owe her a decent education and results in line with her effort and ability. I don't know about the law but I would be feeling that this is very unfair if I were her and might feel angry and switch off education altogether.

The school has no case, IMO (as someone who has studied media law) as your daughter would just have to prove that this published statement was her honestly held opinion, based on provable facts. On her own Facebook page, it is obviously her own opinion and the exam results would be the provable facts upon which she is basing it.

The fact that the school has threatened her with court is pretty disgusting, really. A suspension is pretty heavy handed, too, given the circumstances, I would have thought...

Best of luck sorting this out, OP, and to your DD with her exams.

I am surprised no one has commented on the behaviour of the 'friend' who dropped her in it. If I was a parent of that young person, I'd be feeling really sad that they thought being so nasty to their mate was a good idea.

Is it a state school? A state school taking a schoolgirl to court because she said its sociology teaching isn't up to much. Really? What a ridiculous school. What a bunch of bullies, especially mentioning the police. A libel case would be hugely expensive (and publicy funded) and damages against a schoolgirl would be teensy. What a stupid school. A decent head would call the girl in and say it had been brought to his attention and ask her if she really felt like that. And to come directly to the school with any problems in future.

I would get her to write to the head and apologise for her vituperative statement which was made in anger and disappointment that she and the rest of her class had managed to achieve such poor grades. (use those words exactly ;)

Poor girl. The lessons she should be learning from this:

1. Stand up to bullies (the school)
2. Facebook friends are not friends.

letting off steam on a facebook post should NOT warrant a 5 day suspension
unless
she tagged the school in the post
she has form for insulting behaviour and has been disciplined before
I smell local paper brewing

Seems to me that if all the facts are as OP says then the school has just proved how wanting it is by taking this ultra defensive form of action.

All E's is a disgrace.

A school threatened her with the police for a civil offence. Get her out of there, they will not teach her anything of value.

Maybe the school has gone off the deep end in the comments that they have made about libel however what your daughter did was in effect putout the comment in the public domain. It does not matter that she had the right bits set up on Facebook, as soon as she sent it to others who let it go further it became public.
The school can decide to give a 5 day exclusion for this. The rules are also quite clear for five days exclusion, whilst you can as a parent make representations to the governing body, the governing body cannot direct re-instatement, they can only place a copy of their findings on the pupil's school record.
There is another point that you have not realised, as a sixth form pupil they are there not as a right but effectively as a privilege, they could simply have said we no longer want you in the school, goodbye.
I think that when you go into school, you should not be arguing about the exclusion, it is history, what you need to be talking to the school about is how the school is going to help your daughter and colleagues get a grade which is better then E

If it was me I think I would consider doing as much grovelling and apologising as necessary to get any threat of suspension rescinded.

Then start ringing around the other parents and go all out to get something done about the poor standard of teaching.

I feel for your daughter and her frustration - and the school does sound harsh. But at the moment they hold all the cards. I would want to do something, if only to show support for my DD. I agree that if they all got E grades, the school does not provide a first class education.