http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20140226/NEWS01/302260010/Student-accused-sending-racial-threats-classmate
The above link is to an article from Lancaster Eagle Gazette from a situation that occurred in Lancaster Ohio in late February.
There are two Junior High Schools in Lancaster City Schools. One of them is Thomas Ewing Junior High.
A Thomas Ewing Junior High School student was suspended and could be expelled and charged with a crime after police were told he made racially charged threats on Facebook.
The Student, who is black, along with their family is upset and disturbed by the posting. The posting was from a white student and included pictures of lynchings and swastikas. (The white student is accused of sending them to the black student.)
The mother of the accused has also been very active in the situation saying this is not the first time postings have been racially motivated. The article reported, "She also told school authorities that her son “is out of control and she is unable to control his behavior at this point,” according to the report."
Please feel free to read peoples comments at the bottom of the article.
I have posted this article to start up a discussion on whether items posted on social media should have school punishments, such as being expelled, or if they should be handled by the authorities.
In addition, how should social workers in the schools handle the racially motivated comments made from one student to the other? Do you think race is still an issue today that doesn't receive enough attention?
I believe that even if the school is not in charge of punishing children for what they are doing on social media that problems will arise at school because what the student is posting most likely would cause fights at school. So either way the problem is going to end up at school. I do believe that race is still an issue that school social workers are facing in schools. Educating students about different races is important because I believe students target other students that are different and that they don't understand why they are different. Educating students on different races could lower the discrimination between students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meagan. This is a tricky situation; if the school can prove that the cyberbullying occurred while the student was on school grounds, then I believe they can build a case as to why the student should receive disciplinary action through the school. However, if the postings did not occur on school property, I am not sure if the school has jurisdiction to administer discipline. Regardless, they do have a duty to report and law enforcement will become involved and press charges. It is important that schools acknowledge the impact of cyberbullying on academic performance and a positive school climate, and its prevalence in the community. It would be very beneficial for schools to implement cyberbullying prevention programs in the buildings, as well as diversity awareness and appreciation curricula. This article demonstrates that racial discrimination does still exist, and by not educating students about it, we cannot expect for the cycle to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meagan and think that the school is drawn into this because it will ultimately bring conflict into the school. I think if the situation is threatening and dangerous enough than the police should be involved as well to help protect and try to prevent harm. I also think that schools need to take more preventative measures by providing evidence based programs, preferably preventative programs, to educate students and teach them social skills so they learn to be accepting of those different than themselves.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I agree with the school enforcing some type of punishment, whether the student wrote it on school grounds or not. A topic dealing with racial slurs/a hate crime is something serious and I believe the authorities/courts should control the punishment. I do believe that maybe the school could implement some type of intervention or prevention program as things come along that students go through on more issues and cyberbullying, racism, etc should be more emphasized especially since technology is being utilized so much. So I do think that the school should be informed of this type of situation but not necessarily suspending the student or expelling because so many children need to be in school, for so many different reasons. I think there is a lack in racial education in the school system and always has been and I do believe racism is still an issue and so it needs to be brought up more often in a lot more different types of settings.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little unsure about how I feel about this. Like the others have said, the school needs to be involved to stop any potential conflict from coming into the school. I'm just not sure about him being expelled. If he made a direct threat at school, yeah he needs expelled. But is it right to expel someone because of the potential of a situation? I doubt it.
ReplyDelete