So i’m in a whole lot of trouble now. I was part of a website with a few friends from my local high school. Unfortunately, there was some material… rather critical of certain staff members. Apparently somebody told someone about it and we’re apparently in a lot of trouble. As i wasn’t at school today, i only just found about it.
I’m screwed. What do i say? Admit it and face the music? Say it was just an isolated incident (it was)? Deny everything?
I’m freaking out. 
Well, how bad were the things you guys wrote?
And have your friends admitted to the crime?
Ahh, don’t worry. Kids get in trouble all the time.
Cheer up.
pretty bad. and two guys were expelled earlier for a similar thing.
What was the nature of the stuff you wrote? Truthful? Opinions? Libel? That’ll make a huge difference.
I’m not a lawyer, but I’m an ethicist.
Own your actions, you did them. There are always concequences to any action, some we like better than others.
Though, I wouldn’t get too freaked out, you and your friends are entitled to hold and express publically any opinion you want. You are not allowed to publically threaten others. (Well, its not suggested.) Use this to learn now that if you say something online, be prepared for the person you say it about to find it. Its a public statement, just like publishing in a newspaper.
For my two sense, don’t lie. If you have a relationship where you can go to your parents and get them to back you, it’d help. Not only having someone to talk it through with but having a voice of reason. (If your parents aren’t so good at the voice of reason deal, feel free to skip that step.)
Though I don’t see anything wrong with having critical opinions of educators, I know I do and am quite public about them. If you maintained this website on school property (school servers, spent time in school updating it, etc.) they may have a point. (I would consider it the administration just sucking, but school resources are controlled by said school and thus subject to whatever crap regulations and controls they want.)
If the accusations have any merit, however poorly expressed (“Um…moronic f*&%head is actually refering to his practices of showing up late and never turning back homework. Its hard to learn from a teacher who’s never there and when we are never given the ability to learn from mistakes.”) go with the back up prepared, and if you feel contrite, apologize for the harshness of phrasing, while using the opportunity to air your concerns.
Now if you threatened anyone with physical harm, in this day and age, you are screwed. Mercy of the court and promise you have learned better from this point on. And never do something that stupid again.
I’m on AIM as medeaschild if you want to talk. I’m qualified in being a stubborn b*$^#, but one who can work a system.
Pretty heavy language and pretty damn libellious, but no threats or anything like that.
Thanks for the post, it’s very helpful
No threats, just childish whining about how i dislike certain staff.
And the site was not on the school servers, nor accessed on them (at least by me)
Was it libel or satire? Were you lying about someone as a (cruel) joke or joking about someone to make a point? It’s an important distinction.
If it’s the first, then what you did is wrong and you need to understand that and face the consequences. If it’s the second it’s a bit more grey, and the rules might be different for you in Australia than it would be in the USA.
Also, for reference, what happens in expulsion from school in Australia? You need to take some sort of lesson from this and not let it totally ruin your life. One important one is when you know that something is wrong, that you best not do it or be prepared to face the consequences of your actions.
Maybe NEXT time preface your writing with “any resemblance between real people and the people we talk about on this website is purely coincidental”, or something like that. Then when you talk about a person, fudge their name a bit so it’s not exactly the same as the real person. I think that might work.
Anyways, good luck.
If there are no copies or print-outs of the web site (unlikely?), taking the website down immediately and removing ALL files could prove useful. If confronted say you realized the web site was causing a disturbance and you thought the best thing you could do was removing it.
Obviously this isn’t very ethical, but it’s probably the first thing I’d do to cover my ass. I can’t see how it would aggravate the situation, but consider how it might before taking action. I presume there is no police investigation going on. If there were, this might be construed as destroying evidence. IANAL, YMMV.
already done, very promptly.
So my friend got a week’s suspension + some other sanctions for calling a teacher a crusty old hag on this site. I said worse, so i’m freaking out
Managed to avoid them today, but apparently they’ll be dragging me up tomorrow.
I’m really irritated about this, it’s a personal site meant to entertain. The idea was not to slander the teachers, it was said in a humourous context. I’d like to try to explain this, but i’m afraid i’ll just dig myself in deeper
Thanks for the advice though everyone
Just a thought, but why not go for a preemptive strike? Write a letter to the Principal or whoever it is taking action. Explain that it was meant to be humourous but you realise it got a little out of hand. Explain that you took the site down immediately you realised that offence was taken. If it were me, I’d take a contrite tone and emphasise that I’d learnt my lesson. I’d also consider writing to the teachers named with the same message and an apology - copied to the Principal also so he can see you’re trying to rectify the situation.
J.
On what grounds did they suspend him? What terminology did they use to suspend him with?
Learn from Bradford on The Apprentice, tell the truth and hope for the best. It seemed really funny to you at the time and you didn’t realise how hurtful it could be and you will never be so silly again. If you are punished anyway just cop it sweet and get on with life.
If they tell you the punishment is evisceration, appeal.
Just remember, this is going on your permanent record!
I call Bullshit on this. Not that I don’t believe you but if it wasn’t school property and you didn’t work on the site during school hours then the school has no power over this.
I say call the local chapter of the ACLU . That the American Civil Liberties Union.
If they drag you into the office tell them you are getting a lawyer from the ACLU.
Look at Fenneth, Jr.'s location.
Is this any different than getting caught passing a note during math class saying, “Miss Doran is a fat old hag?” 'Cause that sort of thing has been a pretty regular “crime” since there have been schools. The punishment used to be something along the lines of staying after school and writing a three-page essay on why Miss Doran is not a fat old hag.
They really expell or suspend kids for “passing notes?” And not even while in class?
What a lovely lesson you are learning…
Nothing you post on the Internet is private. If you don’t want the subject of your rant to read it, don’t post it.
Own up to it and take it like a grown-up. Your first grown-up act was to post your opinions for the world to see; now you can face the consequences. That’s not to say you can’t explain the thinking behind your actions, but don’t lie or try to pass the buck. You did it, so deal with it.
Enjoy. Isn’t ethical adulthood a blast?
Whoops!
I thought only US schools were run by jerks.
But since he doesn’t live in America, he isn’t free. Right?
Seriously, if he didn’t do this at school/from school, it shouldn’t be school business.