Fayetteville High School Students Suspended After Racial Video Goes Viral

[SummerMadness]

Fayetteville High School Students Suspended After Racial Video Goes Viral

Two Fayetteville High School students have been suspended from school for one week after a video went viral showing the students making racial slurs.

The faces of students are blurred in the video because they are underage.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The kids said this stuff off school grounds...after school hours...

Why exactly was the school involved in this? Was it at some school event?

 

[Hank77]

The kids said this stuff off school grounds...after school hours...

Why exactly was the school involved in this? Was it at some school event?

No it wasn't at a school event or on school property.
It appears to me that the school has taken it upon themselves to punish people without authority to do so.
As a parent I would be furious. I am quite capable of disciplining my own obnoxious brat, I don't need the school taking my place.

 

[Sistrin]

It appears to me that the school has taken it upon themselves to punish people without authority to do so. As a parent I would be furious. I am quite capable of disciplining my own obnoxious brat, I don't need the school taking my place.

Far too many parents have abrogated their parental responsibility in regard to any issue concerning the public school system. If not, Common Core would never have been implemented. In this case the school is just playing CYA as the administrators know if they do not the race-hustlers will target them by extension.

 

[Tallguy88]

Fayetteville is a rough school district.

But seriously, off-campus activities are no business of the school's. These kids have their right to free speech.

 

[PreviouslySeeking...]

Hmmm, the article said it was a violation of the district's conduct policy, I wonder how it applies. I can't see enough of the video to tell, but kids are under the jurisdiction of their school while traveling to & from school as well. Plenty of kids have been disciplined while not on school property or at an event.

 

[WolfGate]

When Can Schools Punish Students for Online or Off-Campus Speech? - Lawyers.com

What Makes Speech Too Disruptive for First Amendment Protection at School? - Lawyers.com

They likely have legal grounds for doing so. If the video would likely cause disruption at school because of the racist content, then there is legal precedence for discipline.


To which I will also add - welcome to the real world. Do that when you have a job and you most certainly can be fired. Yes, I know a job is different from school, particularly in right to work states, since school is mandated and state run. Unless the parents agree with the speech, I hope they allow the school punishment to run its course. It will help them learn what they need to know about consequences in the working world when they get out.

 

[FireDragon76]

Schools sometimes must act in loco parentis, especially if the behavior will disrupt school activities. The school must ensure a good learning environment for all students, and racism isn't something schools should be endorsing or tolerating.

 

[Hank77]

Hmmm, the article said it was a violation of the district's conduct policy, I wonder how it applies. I can't see enough of the video to tell, but kids are under the jurisdiction of their school while traveling to & from school as well. Plenty of kids have been disciplined while not on school property or at an event.

They were at one of the kids homes when they did it.

 

[Hank77]

They likely have legal grounds for doing so. If the video would likely cause disruption at school because of the racist content, then there is legal precedence for discipline.

They were at one of the kids home when they did it. They were suspended for one week. I hardly think a one week suspension is going to make a difference of any disruption at the school. It would have been more constructive to have immediately called an assembly of all the students in the high school and talked about the ugliness of racism and to joke about it is immature and thoughtless.

 

[Hank77]

When Can Schools Punish Students for Online or Off-Campus Speech? - Lawyers.com

In this case the actions of the students don't come anywhere close to the cases on this site.

 

[WolfGate]

They were at one of the kids home when they did it. They were suspended for one week. I hardly think a one week suspension is going to make a difference of any disruption at the school. It would have been more constructive to have immediately called an assembly of all the students in the high school and talked about the ugliness of racism and to joke about it is immature and thoughtless.

I think it would. It is one week of a cooling off period before the students are back in the hallway with the people they insulted. And during that one week period the people they insulted have seen that the school did something. Less incentive and emotion to take justice into their own hands.

In this case the actions of the students don't come anywhere close to the cases on this site.

Part of why I said "likely" in my post. The examples are different, but the principle of being able to discipline for improper behavior that causes disruption at school is entirely applicable. The question would be if the racist message rose to that level.

 

[Liza B.]

Fayetteville is a rough school district.

But seriously, off-campus activities are no business of the school's. These kids have their right to free speech.

That would actually probably be a valid free speech case. It's the government (public school) punishing kids for speech made off property. In no way am I justifying the speech, which is vile. But they shouldn't be punished for it at school.

 

[Liza B.]

Hmmm, the article said it was a violation of the district's conduct policy, I wonder how it applies. I can't see enough of the video to tell, but kids are under the jurisdiction of their school while traveling to & from school as well. Plenty of kids have been disciplined while not on school property or at an event.

On a school bus, sure. Not off school property. Otherwise, the district owns aspect of your life they should never own. I can tell you this, no district with any kind of decent attorney wants any part of this.

 

[SummerMadness]

Discipline and Punishment: Student Codes of Conduct and Discipline Policies

Many states have extended their discipline policies to cover student conduct off campus or after school hours. Almost every school has the power to discipline students for off-campus conduct that directly interferes with the learning process, such as cheating on homework. Additionally, on-campus behavior continued after school hours -- such as bullying after school -- or off-campus conduct done in retaliation for on-campus activities -- students fighting in a park, for instance -- can result in an on-campus discipline proceeding.

School speech (First Amendment) - Wikipedia

In the landmark decision Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the U.S. Supreme Court formally recognized that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate".

...for other on-campus speech that is neither obscene, vulgar, lewd, indecent, or plainly offensive under Fraser nor school-sponsored under Hazelwood nor advocating illegal drugs at a school-sponsored event under Frederick, Tinker applies limiting the authority of schools to regulate the speech, whether on or off-campus, unless it would materially and substantially disrupt classwork and discipline in the school.

As already stated, the law is on the school's side, no one is getting sued. While I agree, there should be an assembly about the language used and its oppressive origin and usage, threat should still be combined with punishment for the students. They are not ignorant of the language they're using at that age, that's why they used such language, they need to learn that there are consequences for such behavior.

The sad part however is that this behavior was learned at home or from peers, so it would help if parents also had to go to an assembly because such racism probably comes from them. Talking about these issues goes a long way in stopping such behavior.

 

[pat34lee]

Speaking of schools monitoring kids off campus,
does anyone remember this, and is it still happening?

Pennsylvania schools spying on students using laptop webcams, claims lawsuit

 

[PreviouslySeeking...]

On a school bus, sure. Not off school property. Otherwise, the district owns aspect of your life they should never own. I can tell you this, no district with any kind of decent attorney wants any part of this.

Nope. A co-worker's daughter was disciplined for an after-school altercation that happened with another student, they were on private property between school & home. Another student had recorded it & I guess the video made its rounds and the administration was notified.

I don't understand the specifics of it myself, but it has been happening.

 

[Luke Miller]

Hello everyone. I am the kid from this video and I just wanted to come here an answer some of your questions on the matter. I have read all the news articles about the situation and this was one of the links that was higher up on google. So instead of getting scrutinized and yelled at by everyone this forum seemed like the appropriate place to come and talk to people about the issue and answer questions anyone may have. Again I'm not familiar with this forum and I don't know how it works but I will try and frequently get back on to try and follow up. Ask away.

 

[SummerMadness]

Hello everyone. I am the kid from this video and I just wanted to come here an answer some of your questions on the matter. I have read all the news articles about the situation and this was one of the links that was higher up on google. So instead of getting scrutinized and yelled at by everyone this forum seemed like the appropriate place to come and talk to people about the issue and answer questions anyone may have. Again I'm not familiar with this forum and I don't know how it works but I will try and frequently get back on to try and follow up. Ask away.

Are you for real? (Although I would have no way of verifying it). I did not realize this thread ranked high on Google. I commend you for coming on this forum to discuss this topic, most times discussion helps move things in a positive direction.

Has your school (or you) requested time to discuss this topic in an open setting at school? The news article says that you were suspended, but I believe suspension alone is not enough, these topics should be discussed. Do you understand why glorifying white supremacy would cause alarm, particular given history, resulted in the school's action? Whether joking or not, is this something you picked up at home, from friends or online?

 

[Landon Caeli]

Hello everyone. I am the kid from this video and I just wanted to come here an answer some of your questions on the matter. I have read all the news articles about the situation and this was one of the links that was higher up on google. So instead of getting scrutinized and yelled at by everyone this forum seemed like the appropriate place to come and talk to people about the issue and answer questions anyone may have. Again I'm not familiar with this forum and I don't know how it works but I will try and frequently get back on to try and follow up. Ask away.

Fascinating! And thank you for joining the discussion!