Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Freedom of Speech?


This is an interesting story....the 1st Amendment gives us freedom of speech, but we know that there are limitations on our individual rights. What do you think about this story? Are freedoms violated?

A high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her students "disengaged, lazy whiners."

As she fights to keep her job at Central Bucks East High School, 30-year-old Natalie Munroe says she had no interest in becoming any sort of educational icon. The blog has been taken down, but its contents can still be found easily online.

Her comments and her suspension by the middle-class school district have clearly touched a nerve, with scores of online commenters applauding her for taking a tough love approach or excoriating her for verbal abuse. Media attention has rained down, and backers have started a Facebook group.

'Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS'
"My students are out of control," Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."

And in another post, Munroe writes: "Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS." She also comes up with a colorful list of comments that she felt should be available on student report cards.

Munroe points out that she also said positive things, but she acknowledges that she did write some things out of frustration.

Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family. Last week, she said, students brought it to the attention of the school, which suspended her with pay.

Munroe has hired an attorney, who said that she had the right to post her thoughts on the blog and that it's a free speech issue. The attorney, Steven Rovner, said the district has led Munroe to believe that she will eventually lose her job.

Thoughts?



24 comments:

  1. I dont't think she should lose her job over this, but i dont see why she cant keep these things to herself. Yes we have freedom of speech and i dont think she should be punished. There was no need for her to post those things. No i dont think our freedoms are being violated, it's just courtesy to not talk bad where people can see it and no need for fowl language in any case.

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  2. I think thats funny that she posted that stuff about her students. i respect her.

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  3. i think that she shouldnt be fired, and that she is silly for using her real name on her blog

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  4. I can see why the school thought Natalie Monroe was out of line. Although, I do think she had a point. Who said we have to like everyone? She didn't have to be so colorful in language, but she does have a right to express her thoughts. Let's face it, teenagers can be a handful! I don't think she should get fired, just given a warning. She can still think those things, but not on a public website.

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  5. I think it is pretty dumb of her to post that online for all of them to see. She could've left it private and discuss that with the pricipal and take behavior actions to those students who were disrespectful. She probably shouldn't lose her job but there should be some consequence for her. I think she is dumb for doing that though even if the kids are like that you don't put it online. If kids get in trouble for calling someone a name online they get in trouble for bullying and she is kind of doing the same thing by calling them names

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  6. Also, if she didn't use any specific names, I don't think she should be severely punished. Teens can be rude, why lie about it! She should be professional though and not post such comments. She is an adult, she should act like one.

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  7. I think Natalie wasn't very smart for saying that stuff online, however I don't think she should be fired. There should be some consequences for what Natalie did, and unless this keeps ocurring, she should not get fired.

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  8. I believe that Natalie Monroe was in the legal right to express herself, but not in such a colorful way. She could have just expressed herself bluntly that she was frustrated instead of being long-winded about her frustration. Even though she talked harshly about her students, she did not use any names which would not be any big deal, and as Kristan said it is true that we teenagers can be quite a handful, we never stop and reflect on what we do in the classroom. So I believe that Natalie Monroe shouold not be punished but with a warning telling her that she should be less colorful with expressing her frustration or to not post her feelings online for the general public to see.

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  9. crazy stuff. she sounds like a crazy lady but i the things she says i agree with basically.

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  10. I think that she shouldn't get her job taken away from her, but maybe a slight concequence. But i do agree that some things are true. The truth hurts sometimes. Although next time she should consider keeping those sort of things to herself or just to her friends, not on a public blog where anyone can know what she said. At least she didn't name any names though.

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  11. I think you do have the right to say stuff online to a point but I kinda think she crossed the line when she started talking about her students, yes I understand that she was frustrated but you can find other ways to vent your frustration. Being a teacher you should know that you shouldn't talk about your students like that especially on a blog.

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  12. I don't think she should get a major punishment, but some sort of one. What she did was wrong, and she should act like an adult about it, but she's only telling the truth. Teens are lazy and disrespectful. It is a messed up situation though.

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  13. I don't think she should loose her job over this, because she didn't use her full name and it only got brought to the attention from a student who figured she was talking about them. And although some of the comments shouldn't have been put up in the first place, she did it in the most simple way by no names otherwise if she had use names then it would have been much worse for her case.

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  14. Fire her! SHe is disrespecting kids and if they disrespected her they would be expelled like the one kid who wrote of their fagbook about the principal. They should have the same consequences.

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  15. This lady shouldn't repeat what she did but she shouldn't be fired. And I agree with Kristan,if she didn't use specific names than she shouldn't have as harsh punishments.

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  16. I do like how Derek mentions the other issue that happened. It is very true that if she doesn't end up getting fired, it will be very unfair. I don't feel that boy should have gotten expelled; why wasn't he given a warning first.? Equality is important. Although both situations are very tough.

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  17. It's not right, teachers shouldn't say that where the students could read it if they wanted. Or the fact that others could see it and report her, like what happened. I get that she should have gotten a warning, but at the same time she insulted the kids and made them feel bad. I think she should be able to go back to work.

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  18. Its so not right. I think that she needs to be fired. If she ends up staying at her job then she will just keep doing it. Its not going to stop her if they give her a warning and not fire her.

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  19. i think that in a way she was right to do what she did, but at the same time it isn't. she shouldnt lose her job, maybe suspended for a time, next time she should just keep it to herself.

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  20. I think that she has a right to speak her mind. She should not get fired, she was out of school when she said this, and did not mention any of the students names.

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  21. I think this is kinda a difficult situation. Yeah, what she did was somewhat out of line but yet I feel she shouldn't necessarily get fired for it. Besides, teens are that way and she didn't use their names in the blog. I also considered the idea that when students complain about teachers online they often receive harsh punishments. Should teachers receive harsh punishments as well? Or should their be a warning? But I guess it depends on what was said.

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  22. I think that this is crazy for one. We the people have the right to freedom of speech, there for we should be able to say whatever we want to. She didn't say it right to their faces she did it on a personal blog. Most kids are little babies and most teachers i'm sure agree with that. We can be horrible we can treat teachers like crap. She shouldn't be punished for it, just make her take the post down and problem solved.

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  23. Jada i agree with you but when a kid complains about this to there parents their not just gonna let it go.

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  24. I don't think she should of put up a public blog to vent about. She could of went to school officials and discussed her issues. I don't think she should be fired for it.

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