Letter of the Day | School is right to suspend student for posting video

THE EDITOR, Madam

I write with reference to the article ‘Education ministry says due process followed a suspension of St George’s High School student’, published in The Gleaner on November 22.

I concur with the suspension of the student, because school officials did not give the student permission to post (write and publish) the “video of the school’s broken fan” on social media, which was taken by the student, during school hours and while the student was on the private property of the school.

It should also be noted that a school can discipline any student if their social media post cause material disruption to the learning environment, and if it has a connection with the school.

However, I do not think the school officials intended to cause the student any harm when they suspended him. Discipline is legal and the school officials have the the right to censor what students post on social media, and enforce that discipline, if there is any violation based on the school’s social record guidelines.

I also believe that students and parents would be made aware, and would have receive the school’s written social media guidelines, during the process of registration and orientation before the beginning of a school year.

The discipline that school officials implement is not unique to Jamaica.

Officials of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada public school systems do have the same legal rights like Jamaica ‘s public school officials. To discipline students, who posts a video of a school broken fan on social media, without getting prior officials’ permission, is the right of the school’s administrators.

So writing and publishing on social media a video of the school’s broken fan is illegal. Also, if you shoot a video in a school without permission you will be disciplined, because this is illegal and unethical.

Finally, despite social media having evolved, the laws of public school discipline are not obsolete.

CARGILL KELLY