Teacher suspended for facebook slam against student

[Ooh La La]

Ah, nepotism from teachers. We only had one drama teacher in my high school and her daughter was in the same grade as me. Besides the obvious issue when her daughter auditioned for plays, this teacher also had the "BFF with my kid" mothering style. She tried to facebook friend all her daughter's facebook friends, arrange shopping trips with us, etc. It put all of us in a really awkward position and was not appreciated.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Following the evolution discussion, Hussain wrote on her Facebook page that a student left a Bible on her desk with a card that read Merry Christmas with “Christ” underlined, the parent told WRAL News Monday afternoon.


Hussain wrote that the gesture was cruel and called it a “hate crime,” the parent said.

It was a Christmas card and a Bible. It's not that serious. I don't see how the teacher let a child upset her that much. It's one thing to express anger or offense with a student. We all vent about our jobs--in fact, we do it on here all the time. But publicly accusing a student of committing a hate crime? That's over the line. I can't really say she deserved a 5-day suspension because I didn't see the actual comment, but sounds like she did more than some harmless venting.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

It was a Christmas card and a Bible. It's not that serious. I don't see how the teacher let a child upset her that much. It's one thing to express anger or offense with a student. We all vent about our jobs--in fact, we do it on here all the time. But publicly accusing a student of committing a hate crime? That's over the line. I can't really say she deserved a 5-day suspension because I didn't see the actual comment, but sounds like she did more than some harmless venting.

Meh....I don't think it's worth a 5-day suspension, not to mention we don't really know the back story. For all we know, she is a practicing Muslim and this was a hostile act. It doesn't really sound like something a child would do, but more like something a parent would make their child do.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Meh....I don't think it's worth a 5-day suspension, not to mention we don't really know the back story. For all we know, she is a practicing Muslim and this was a hostile act. It doesn't really sound like something a child would do, but more like something a parent would make their child do.

I was going to say, if the teacher is Muslim, then yes, I would consider this a hate crime. But as far as not thinking the kid would do it on his own...you need to rent Jesus Camp. LOL.

Have to say though, the "heaven help him" makes me chuckle. It's like a variant of "bless your heart."

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I was going to say, if the teacher is Muslim, then yes, I would consider this a hate crime.

What would be the criminal act?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

What would be the criminal act?

I think her point was that it the gift of the Bible may have been intended as religious harassment, not that giving someone a religious text ought to be considered harassment on its own or that it's in any way a crime.

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

What would be the criminal act?

threat of violence, depending on the context, issue over believes, etc. Although it is quite clearly harassment, and that's a crime (usually), and crimes are usually based on hate.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I was going to say, if the teacher is Muslim, then yes, I would consider this a hate crime. But as far as not thinking the kid would do it on his own...you need to rent Jesus Camp. LOL.

I was about to say--I went to HS with quite a few fundies who didn't need parental encouragement to do something like this.

[deepimpact2]

Yet another instance of a school system getting upset over something insignificant while failing to adequately handle the problems and issues that are SIGNIFICANT.

Whether or not she should have said it, at some point people should be allowed to have "privacy" on Facebook. I say privacy in the sense that lines should be drawn when it comes to punishing people for what they write on these public forums.

And I agree that it was probably more about the comments under her post than anything else. What she wrote was harmless. And there was nothing illegal or unethical about it.