Teachers strike back at students’ online pranks
I was reading this article on teachers fighting back against students posting defamatory statements about them online, when I came across this gem of a quote from the ever-helpful ACLU:
“What I’m not seeing is school officials approaching this in an adult manner,” says Vic Walczak, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Pennsylvania. “They’re approaching it in an authoritarian fashion….”
When did we get to the point where it was inappropriate for school authorities to approach something in an authoritarian fashion? Maybe I’m a bit biased since I’m married to a teacher who has to worry every day about what her students might post about her online, but this is ridiculous.
“Authoritarian” does not equal “authoritative”. It is a word that means something bad.
Oh, I know what it means — I looked it up before I used it to make sure I was saying what I meant to be saying. ;) I know it is typically perceived as something bad. I’d contend that in the case of parents or teachers, at least in cases where there isn’t abuse as a factor, the superiors genuinely do have the subordinates’ best interests at heart, then “authoritarian” really becomes more like “authoritative.” So perhaps what I should have said is that these people are mislabeling things. In either case, the end result is that the authority figure makes the final call. I don’t think anyone is saying these kids can’t disagree, but when it comes to the kind of stuff they’re saying, it sort of falls under the category of speech that “you’re a big stupid doo-doo head” falls under.
Speaking as a former wiseass student and current substitute teacher, the sad truth is that not everyone in the school system always has the kids’ best interest at heart at all times. Teachers and school administrators are just as vulnerable to laziness, power trips, and stubbornness as any other profession. Without knowing what particular situations the ACLU guy was talking about, I see no reason he may not have been right.