Thursday, May 24, 2012

Stupid Suspension Shenanigans

In some schools this would get an award, but in one New York school it gets you suspended:
Cyber-bullying and bullying in general has no doubt become a hot button topic amongst teens, which is why Jessica Barba, a freshman at Longwood High school decided to make the issue the focus of one of her school projects on persuasive promotion. Instead, the project got her in some hot water and led to her suspension from school.

"When they told me i was suspended i just started hysterically crying," said Jessica.

Barba wrote, edited and starred in an anti-bullying video project by playing a fictitious character, Hailey Bennett, and even created a fake Facebook page. The Bennet character was tormented and cyber-bullied in the video. In the end, the character commits suicide.

"I wanted to influence kids to do the right thing and not bully," said Jessica.

Barba added there were several posts on the fake Facebook page and video indicated the Bennett character and all the events taking place were not real. A local parent, however, became alarmed after seeing the Facebook page and contacted school officials, leading to Barba's one week suspension.

Now, Barba and her parents will have to face a hearing before school administrators to determine when she'll be allowed back.
I'm still trying to understand exactly what it was she did wrong, besides provide an opportunity for school officials to show how stupid they are.

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