These Facebook pages, however, were something different. Kids have always ragged on an unpopular teacher or ridiculed an unfortunate classmate. But sites like Facebook and RateMyTeachers.com are changing the power dynamics of the community in an unpredictable way. It is as if students were standing outside the classroom window, taunting the teacher to her face. Should they be punished? There were, as yet, no rules or codes for how a school should address such issues.
“You logged into Facebook under a false name,” the woman said, glaring at McGuire.
“I had a right to defend myself against defamation,” McGuire responded.
“Students are just blowing off steam,” the trustee said. “They’re very stressed; it’s not unusual for them to say racist and sexist things … The site is private.”
“No,” McGuire insisted, “it’s got 9 million users.”
“What you did was like breaking into my daughter’s room and reading her diary … ”
what your daughter did was the equivalent of posting something in Times Square.”
clipped from: nymag.com