Legal & Ethical Issues By: Taylor Bond

Facebook & Social Media: Baltimore Teacher Fired After Video Shows Her Calling Students N****r How did this happen? A Baltimore teacher from Harlem Park Elementary/Middle school was escorting a student out of her classroom. Yelling at the student telling him to “Get out of my class,” she then came back a minute later berating her students, threatening to give them zeros on their assignments. She yells and shouts at her class, calling them all idiots, and stating “You have the chance to get an education, but you want to be punk-ass n****r who’s gonna get shot.” A student who recorded the incident in the classroom showed it to a parent, who then uploaded it to facebook where it went viral. How could this have been avoided? This could of simply been avoided by escorting the one student who was being problematic out of the class and finding coverage to watch over the other students in the classroom. This way her the other students that were in her classroom can be supervised, instead of adding additional frustration to a already hectic situation. How should the school/law/parents/students go from that point on? The parents should make a formal complaint to the principle so that he/she can handle the situation. The students are no longer going to feel safe with her being their instructor after she expressed how she really feels and thinks about them. My personal opinion My personal opinion is that this lady should have her teachers license revoked and not able to work in a school setting any longer. The frustration of the job is something that she clearly cannot handle, and its unfair to the students as well as herself for her to not have the students best interest in mind.

Email/Texting: Jacksonville teacher loses license for inappropriate text with student How did this happen? A Jacksonville teacher gave up his license to teach after an investigation into inappropriate text he sent to a student. John Vetsch, who was a social studies teacher at Douglas Anderson School of Arts sent multiple flirting text to a student, and was also caught hugging the the 17-year-old student in a inappropriate manner. Vetsch asked the student to delete the messages and not tell anyone because he could “probably get in trouble.” In all he had to surrender his teaching certificate, which was them permanently revoked. How could this have been avoided? This could have been avoided if Vetsch kept his all of his actions as far as physical as well as through conversations appropriate. Vetsch had no business texting a 17-year-old student on her personal phone, everything should have been very business professional. Where should the school/law/parents/students go from that point on? The school should report Vetsch to authorities where the parents and the students should press charges. This teacher should be put on the offenders list for even looking at an under aged girl in the manner that he has. My personal opinion I believe that a teacher should not have a students personal information to contact them when they are that young in age. Everything should be kept in a professional manner to where if you need to contact a student it should be through their parent or legal guardian.

Plagiarism/Copyright Issues: More than 100 students plagiarized homework at Alamo heights High School How did this happen? More than 100 students plagiarized answers to their homework at Alamo Heights High School in two large-scale incidents just before Thanksgiving break. 38 juniors in a U.S History class and 90 freshmen in an English class were involved in the incident. In both cases one students found the answers online and then dispersed them to others, where it then went viral. Students were disciplined by not being able to participate in extracurricular activities’, and public performances for three weeks. How could this have been avoided? This could have been avoided by the teacher coming up with questions that you couldn't’t find the exact answer to online. Also the students could have been honest and completed the work without the cheating and plagiarizing what they seen on the internet. Where should the school/law/parents/students go from that point on? The parents should spend a little bit more time with their child at home going over the proper tools that they would need to feel confident in the classroom. If they feel as though they understand the material that they are given then they will not feel so obligated to cheat. My personal opinion I feel as though plagiarizing is a big offense when it comes to academics. The school was correct for how the reprimanded the students for their academic dishonesty. When you plagiarize it just goes to show that you actually did not learn anything and you need to spend more time on it.

Cyber bullying: Tradgedy as ninth grader at Pennsylvania high school killers herself after a ‘classmate cyber-bullied her’ How did this happen? A ninth grade student died by suicide in Limerick, Pennsylvania. Police are investigating to see if cyber-bullying was the reason behind her taking her life. The ninth grade female student received a message saying “no one cares about you”, and also other horrific messages that the police felt were to vulgar to release to the public. Police said there were also indications of bullying on her social media, via Snapchat and Instagram. The day of her passing one student thanked Julia for giving them a “free vacation” because students were excused from classes and given the day to grieve. How could this have been avoided? This could have been avoided if the student just went and talked to someone about how she was feeling and what was happening to her. Also at a certain age parents should monitor what is going on with their social media, and online activity just to ensure the child’s safety. Where should the school/law/parents/students go from that point on? The parents should press charges on the students that were involved in the bullying that took place with this young lady. The law should charge these students with some form of murder being as though cyber-bullying is real and it is causing children to lose their lives. By charging those students involved it will bring attention to the matter so that other students understand that this type of thing is taken seriously. My personal opinion I believe that parents should monitor the amount of online activity a child partakes in, as well as their social media. Also parents should look out for certain signs that may indicate that a child is going through some negative things in life. Children that are involved in cyber-bullying another student should be reprimanded.

References E. (2017, May 02). Man arrested in Jacksonville after exposing himself to woman near JTB, JSO says. Retrieved May 09, 2017, from http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/man-arrested-in-jacksonville-after-exposing-himself-to-woman-near-jtb-jso-says/518561210 Murdock, S. (2016, November 18). Baltimore Teacher Fired After Video Shows Her Calling Students N****r. Retrieved May 09, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/baltimore-teacher-fired-racism_us_582df0d7e4b058ce7aa9b06d Reporter, D. (2017, April 09). Tragedy as ninth grader at a Pennsylvania high school kills herself after a 'classmate cyber-bullied her' - becoming the latest victim of online harassment in the classroom. Retrieved May 09, 2017, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4395902/Student-killed-cyber-bullied.html Writer, S. F. (2016, December 6). More than 100 students plagiarized homework at Alamo Heights High School. Retrieved May 09, 2017, from http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/More-than-100-students-plagiarized-homework-at-10653899.php