idiots
And the school administration showed the teacher in question isn't the only douche bag in power at the school.
A California high school student who was suspended for calling a teacher “a douche bag” on Facebook has been reinstated, following a legal showdown involving the American Civil Liberties Union. The youth, an honor student and star football player, apologized after school officials confronted him over his Facebook scrawling, …
It is right that the ACLU challenged the school authorities over their extreme reaction to an opinion that may, or may not, have been founded on fact.
Even in England of the last century we all had names for teachers, each reflecting a consensus of opinion of a given class on the attributes of the said teachers. This student, no doubt a little unwisely, chose to post his opinion for all to see.
The school should draw a line between school activities and those in students private arenas. Did whomever find the comment do it on school equipment during school hours?
As for 'cycberbullying' - what a ridiculous charge - the teacher had many remedies that he could have used but chose to dramatise the comment instead of using it as a learning opportunity.
The ramifications could have followed a similar path to a case in Chicago: < http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/41373-student-sues-to-expunge-record-of-cyberbullying-charge?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20tgdaily_all_sections%20%28TG%20Daily%20-%20All%20News%29 >.
"the First Amendment [...] bars them from disciplining students for speech unless it creates a significant disruption to the learning environment."
I hadn't realised that the Founding Fathers were so prescient as to couch the first amendment in 21st Century educational jargon!
Adults involved should stop being so freaking stupid. Simply call the lad in and parents if necessary. Ask him what his problem is, ask him if he will apologise to the person he offended and then remove the offending comment.
There, everyone happy, lad learns a lession to show a little more respect and some restraint next time.
Nah! Call in the full weight of the law and various rights organisations and make a big fuss! Jesus, what the hell is wrong with people?! "Quick kids are running rings around adult with this Facebook thingy, ahhhh! Moral panic! Ahhhh!".
It's hard to imagine how any statement short of claiming he intended to bring a gun to school could be described as "bullying" a teacher. Last I checked bullying normally required some kind of power imbalance. With the bully having more power that is, just to be clear, since some people are obviously foggy on this point.
Every time there is a substitute teacher in *any* class, there is a 'significant disruption to the learning environment'.
Now what?
Old Robert Heinlein touched on how the world was better after 'The Day They Hung All the Lawyers' and his thought that (paraphrase) 'Democracy dies when the people discover they can vote for Bread and Circuses'
Sigh.