New Hampshire Mother Outraged After 13-Year-Old Daughter Suspended Over Facebook Post - FoxNews.com


I know I know, it's from Fox. Can't help it.
Do you think 5 days' suspension for posting a Face Book status update "I wish Usama bin Laden killed my math teacher" is too harsh? To light, just right?
What would you do if one of your own kids was in this situation and had made that kind of post?
How would you feel if you were a teacher and one of your students said that about you?

ETA--Do you think it's fair or right for the school to withdraw the girl from her math class and hire her a private tutor for math instead, because the girl is now afraid to face the math teacher?

[K.A.T]

I feel the 5 day suspension is a bit harsh if it is not an in house suspension. However, the article doesn't state if it's in house or not. If it's an in house suspension then I don't mind it being for 5 days. Personally, I feel that she should face some ramifications, she wished her math teacher dead. I know teens don't know what they're saying at times, but they need to learn that wishing a person dead is wrong on so many levels. She should have been given an in house suspension. If I were the teacher, I wouldn't want that student in my classroom. And if I were the parent, there would be hell to pay from my child.

[Fluffy Baby]

What happened to free speech? She did not threaten the teacher. It is not the school's job to police facebook and I do not think that there should be ANY punishment from the school.

[LessthanThree]

I wonder if that girl has had previous problems with her teacher? Maybe she has actually threatened her teacher before and was just saying it out of anger.

However, the article says she's mortified that she said that and the girl is 13 years old. I think the teacher over reacted. And it's not like she said "I want to kill my math teacher" she said she wanted some else (someone who is dead) to kill her.

[K.A.T]

Yes, I get free speech, but it doesn't matter, she wished a person dead. That is WRONG, end of story. So if I go and say to one of my bosses I wish xyz would have killed you, would my boss be wrong for firing me? No! What if I wished someone on this debate board dead? Would it be wrong for me to get suspended or banned because of free speech? NO! Just think of the thought process for a second. If a person can wish another dead, what's to stop them from taking that next step and doing it themselves?

It all boils down to consequences for your actions. Do you really think that in a post Columbine world that schools are going to take things like this lightly? I would say you would have to be pretty naive to think that way.
eta: I had an afterthought. This could fall under the umbrella of non protected speech. If what you're saying can or does insight violence, then it does not fall under free speech and you can be arrested for it. What if someone on her fb pages reads that as her asking for someone to kill the teacher and does so? She is just as culpable as the person who actually did kill the teacher.

*forgive typos using my phone and it can be a hassle.*

[Fluffy Baby]

Originally Posted by K.A.T

Yes, I get free speech, but it doesn't matter, she wished a person dead. That is WRONG, end of story. So if I go and say to one of my bosses I wish xyz would have killed you, would my boss be wrong for firing me? No! What if I wished someone on this debate board dead? Would it be wrong for me to get suspended or banned because of free speech? NO! Just think of the thought process for a second. If a person can wish another dead, what's to stop them from taking that next step and doing it themselves?

It all boils down to consequences for your actions. Do you really think that in a post Columbine world that schools are going to take things like this lightly? I would say you would have to be pretty naive to think that way.
eta: I had an afterthought. This could fall under the umbrella of non protected speech. If what you're saying can or does insight violence, then it does not fall under free speech and you can be arrested for it. What if someone on her fb pages reads that as her asking for someone to kill the teacher and does so? She is just as culpable as the person who actually did kill the teacher.

*forgive typos using my phone and it can be a hassle.*

Who decides that wishing a person dead is wrong? I do not feel it is wrong as you do. Kids and teens wish people dead all the time (hormones and not understanding the world). She said she wished Osama killed her teacher. She is not asking anybody to do anything, that's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? If someone on her FB reads that much into it, um, that is not her problem. Sorry, I do not agree with censoring anybody unless it is a direct threat. Osama is dead (supposedly). I am assuming she wished that her teacher was killed on 9/11. That is horrible, but she has that right to say what she wants. We are censoring people now because of what they could do with a thought process?

[Tammyjh]

Was it a school issued laptop? If so, the school should take the laptop away for the rest of the school year. I'm not sure on the 5 days suspension but as she wished that someone had murdered her teacher, I'm not all that upset about her having consequences. I think she should only be moved to another class if the teacher is uncomfortable with her being there. Other than that, the girl should apologize and get back to school. I'm also wondering what her overall school behavior is like.

[K.A.T]

crap had a post n lost it. I will edit this as home later.

[lilaculpepper]

ARGH!! It is Usama or Osama?? For 10 years I've been reading Osama but the night he was killed Fox News was commenting on Usama's death and I thought he had a brother or something.

Which is it??!!

I'm going to agree with KAT on this one. Is wishing someone had been killed the first thing the Columbine shooters thought about before they decided to do it themselves? Is it possible to go from wishing someone had died, to wishing they would die, to thinking you should be the one to make them die?
I think her punishment is just fine considering that she decided to express to the world that she wished for someone's death. Thinking it is bad enough, yes people think it all the time, and it's far worse to make those thoughts known.
And I don't think she should be allowed out of that math class. The school year is nearly over so I think she needs to face it.

Originally Posted by lilaculpepper

ARGH!! It is Usama or Osama?? For 10 years I've been reading Osama but the night he was killed Fox News was commenting on Usama's death and I thought he had a brother or something.

Which is it??!!

I've been wondering the same thing. If you find out, lemme know.

[lilaculpepper]

Not quite sure how I feel yet about the argument for wishing someone dead either by their own means or someone else's but something struck me as I was reading. Didn't any of you, as self-centered, thoughtless teens, ever scream at your mom, "I wish you were dead!" I know I did. Several times, in fact. And right around that golden age of 13, too. Did my parents think I was really going to kill them? Of course not. Did they think I'd get someone to do it for me? Of course not. Did they in the least bit take me seriously? Nope.
I'll bet dollars to donuts that 99% of us are guilty of non-protected speech at one point in our lives. Cut the girl some slack.

[Fluffy Baby]

Originally Posted by lilaculpepper

Not quite sure how I feel yet about the argument for wishing someone dead either by their own means or someone else's but something struck me as I was reading. Didn't any of you, as self-centered, thoughtless teens, ever scream at your mom, "I wish you were dead!" I know I did. Several times, in fact. And right around that golden age of 13, too. Did my parents think I was really going to kill them? Of course not. Did they think I'd get someone to do it for me? Of course not. Did they in the least bit take me seriously? Nope.
I'll bet dollars to donuts that 99% of us are guilty of non-protected speech at one point in our lives. Cut the girl some slack.

ITA. The only reason she is in this mess is because she typed it on FB. I do not think this child should be punished at all, especially BY THE SCHOOL. What she said was done on her own time (unless it was a school computer) and the school has NO right to punish over anything like this.

[Cereal Killer]

I think it is a stretch to say that a 13 year old wishing her teacher had been killed in a tragedy is indicative of her having homicidal tendencies. I have said "I am going to KILL my kids.". Would anyone take that to mean that I am willing, desiring or capable of actually murdering my children?

I just cannot endorse the Orwellian ideology of thought crimes. It shouldn't be a crime to hate someone. Wishing someone dead is a far cry from willfully causing another's death.

If this was done on a school computer, I would understand losing computer privileges but a 5 day suspension is a bit overboard. Evidently, the girl is beyond remorseful and regretful for her status. Assuming the child has not had a history of violent behavior, I don't see why this warranted more than a sit down with the parents and explanation to the child as to why it was inappropriate to make such a statement.

[*Jillian*]

Is it bad that I kinda laughed when I read what she wrote? Yeah. It is bad. My sense of humor is sick anyway.

I don't think it was the nicest and most appropriate thing to say, but she wished that a dead person would kill her teacher. That seems like sick humor more than a threat.

[Tammyjh]

Originally Posted by foxfire_ga79

I've been wondering the same thing. If you find out, lemme know.

I always used Osama or just OBL

Looks like the FBI uses Usama as well.
FBI

And the CIA
Osama or Usama? - FishbowlDC

The FBI’s “Most Wanted List,” now updated to reflect bin Laden’s death, has the name spelled “Usama.” The CIA’s website also spells bin Laden’s name with a “U.”

[hannah79]

This is one of those things that is really hard for me. I think I am too close to this type of situation to be unbiased. I think the school overreacted in this case, but I don't know if I believe that for any comment a kid can make about a teacher in a public forum.

We recently had a problem like this at our school. On a student's facebook, a kid posted **** You, Mrs. So and So. He then went on to make sexual comments about the teacher. The teacher reported it and the student received no form of punishment. I can understand this because I don't think it is the school's place to punish a kid for something he did at home. However she did ask the school to switch the kid to another class. The boys mother cried foul and said it would be too disruptive for her child to be moved to another class. Now he continues to make lewd comments and the teacher has to still teach the kid everyday. I don't know what I think should happen to this kid.

[Cereal Killer]

That would qualify as sexual harassment and if the school principal won't take action, she should go to the school board or DOE.

[plan4fate]

Originally Posted by lilaculpepper

Not quite sure how I feel yet about the argument for wishing someone dead either by their own means or someone else's but something struck me as I was reading. Didn't any of you, as self-centered, thoughtless teens, ever scream at your mom, "I wish you were dead!" I know I did. Several times, in fact. And right around that golden age of 13, too. Did my parents think I was really going to kill them? Of course not. Did they think I'd get someone to do it for me? Of course not. Did they in the least bit take me seriously? Nope.
I'll bet dollars to donuts that 99% of us are guilty of non-protected speech at one point in our lives. Cut the girl some slack.

Never. Not once. I might have told her to jump off a bridge, or take a flying leap, but never officially wished her dead either in my head or aloud.



I'm torn. Schools seem to be over stepping boundaries... but I do think the kid should be punished, and since parents have a cruddy track record for punishing their kids, someone has to do it.

[Banned-magicalthinking]

I got 3 days in school for telling a boy who'd bullied me all year I "wanted him to just die already", honestly, I still don't feel bad about saying that. I feel bad I said it loudly in class, but he was bully and everytime I went to teachers and adminstration about it I got "just stay away from him", "ignore it", and finally to my mother "you don't understand, his father is uninvolved" (oh that makes it ok, continue to let him call me names and shove me and make my life a living he.ll, after all he has a single parent), so yeah, I'm fine with what I said (he's still a bully BTW). Anyways, I took those days as out of school at my mother's request, she felt I needed a break.

She feels badly for what she said. She know she shouldn't have said. Personally 5 days seems a bit much, may 2-3 days, having to right a letter of apology to the teacher (I refused to write one to my bully and got a month of detention instead, whatever), that sort of thing would be ok. Though as KAT pointed out, I'd probably be ok with 5 days in school. She has every right to vent her frustration about teacher. And if her outlet for frustration is FB, then she has every right to do so on her FB page. However, venting frustration and wishing someone dead are different. Words do have consequenses. Had she just posted "Ugh, hate my math teacher. She smells like dead toads" then yeah, that'd be cool by me. Hate is a feeling word and feeling words are ok.

I do feel teenagers need to be more aware of what WWW stands for. Worldwide web. That means anyone who wants to find it, will eventually find it. Tred carefully.

Originally Posted by lilaculpepper

ARGH!! It is Usama or Osama?? For 10 years I've been reading Osama but the night he was killed Fox News was commenting on Usama's death and I thought he had a brother or something.

Which is it??!!

OMG this has been bugging me soooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I saw Fox reporting it (they interrupted my Family Guy) I was like "Usama? Who the he.ll is Usama? Did the news get it wrong?", I've been very confused.

[Fluffy Baby]

Originally Posted by ~Tithen~

Never. Not once. I might have told her to jump off a bridge, or take a flying leap, but never officially wished her dead either in my head or aloud.



I'm torn. Schools seem to be over stepping boundaries... but I do think the kid should be punished, and since parents have a cruddy track record for punishing their kids, someone has to do it.

So, we just let the schools take over and let them hand out discipline as them seem fit for anything done off of school property? If the teacher had a problem, she should have called the cops and reported it. I know if that were my kid, I would be fighting this. Freedom of speech is being violated. I would have a talk with my child and discipline them myself. I would be raising hell, honestly.

Originally Posted by magicalthinking

I got 3 days in school for telling a boy who'd bullied me all year I "wanted him to just die already", honestly, I still don't feel bad about saying that. I feel bad I said it loudly in class, but he was bully and everytime I went to teachers and adminstration about it I got "just stay away from him", "ignore it", and finally to my mother "you don't understand, his father is uninvolved" (oh that makes it ok, continue to let him call me names and shove me and make my life a living he.ll, after all he has a single parent), so yeah, I'm fine with what I said (he's still a bully BTW). Anyways, I took those days as out of school at my mother's request, she felt I needed a break.

She feels badly for what she said. She know she shouldn't have said. Personally 5 days seems a bit much, may 2-3 days, having to right a letter of apology to the teacher (I refused to write one to my bully and got a month of detention instead, whatever), that sort of thing would be ok. Though as KAT pointed out, I'd probably be ok with 5 days in school. She has every right to vent her frustration about teacher. And if her outlet for frustration is FB, then she has every right to do so on her FB page. However, venting frustration and wishing someone dead are different. Words do have consequenses. Had she just posted "Ugh, hate my math teacher. She smells like dead toads" then yeah, that'd be cool by me. Hate is a feeling word and feeling words are ok.

I do feel teenagers need to be more aware of what WWW stands for. Worldwide web. That means anyone who wants to find it, will eventually find it. Tred carefully.

The appropiate course of action would be to call the cops and report it, not report it to a principal at a school. Freedom of speech is protected under the worldwide web. Death threats are unprotected, but this clearly was NOT a death threat.