I am "under fire" at my kid's school about writing a blog-would love some support!

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Permalink Reply by Samantha @ Mama Notes on June 14, 2009 at 1:13am

I'm sorry that happened to you!! Your boys are adorable! I became a follower of your blog. :)

-Samantha
www.mamanotes.com

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Permalink Reply by Kathy on June 15, 2009 at 11:43am

I have had a similar thing happen to me and I am simply amazed! I actually had the principal tell me she didn't like my Facebook postings!!! I never even mentioned the school on there, nor does she have permission to look at my page, but she claims to know it all since she read my blog. It is a risk we take when we put it out there, I know. Look, I believe the school employees are MY employees as I pay their salaries with my tax money. If they don't like what is being said about them by the people who they should be working for than they need to change their actions. It is what would be expected of me at my job after all!
Good luck and let me know how your situation works out.
Peace,
K

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Permalink Reply by Cailin Yates on June 16, 2009 at 9:07am

sounds like you are doing great "mom!"

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Permalink Reply by Angie @5VinezMonkeys on June 16, 2009 at 2:18pm

No one likes negative publicity. We don't like hearing that we're doing something wrong. It sounds like your school KNOWS they did something wrong, but they don't want anyone else knowing about it. According to the Freedom of Speech, you have the right to say how you feel. You're not being slanderous, you're simply stating facts. The school is just going to have to get over it. After all, what can they do? Hmmm...... maybe they could FIX the problem so they don't get more negative publicity?!

I'll pop over to your blog and comment in a bit! :)

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Permalink Reply by Elisa on June 16, 2009 at 5:01pm

Oh, please. It's not like it's confidential. If they don't want bad publicity then they shoulnd't mess up ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Missie on June 17, 2009 at 7:54pm

I went thru a situation like this. My daughter was hospitalized a few years ago for anorexia. I wrote daily about her progress. Her doctors found out about the blog and actually forbid me to write about my daughter's treatment. If I didn't stop writing, they said they would not treat my daughter anymore.

I decided to look up privacy laws and hippa laws and realized I was breaking no laws. I had every right to keep writting what ever I wanted.

I did however, make my blog private for a few months until my daughter was was done for her treatment and then went private again.

I don't think anyone has the right to tell us what we can write.

I wish you lots of luck!

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Permalink Reply by Casey on June 19, 2009 at 9:36am

Your blog is your opinion! You have done nothing wrong.!

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Permalink Reply by Debra Legg on June 19, 2009 at 9:43am

Good for you, Jennifer, for sticking to your guns.

I wrote a post critical of my son's school a while back and then wondered if I was going to hear anything. I didn't, even though I know they know I blog. It's in my email signature - they couldn't possibly miss it.

It wouldn't have mattered to me if they had because 1. the good posts about the school have far outweighed the criticism and 2. the school is a government agency, operated by public employees on the public payroll. That makes them fair game legally in a lot of ways.

Kathy, your principal's reaction is just perplexing. She doesn't have enough to do if she's worried about your Facebook postings. Yes, they need to change their actions as well as their REactions. "I'm sorry there's a problem. How can we work it out" would be much better.

Missie, the anorexia reaction from the doctors strikes me as weird as well. If every a condition needed attention and awareness, it's eating disorders.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel LeRoy on June 19, 2009 at 11:18am

The problem was not the post - it was the photo of the ribbon that showed the school's name - if you ask me. If the school was not mentioned by name, none of it should matter.

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl C. Malandrinos on June 19, 2009 at 11:23am

Since I'm not sure what the original post said, it's hard for me to comment, but I will say that it is hypocritical for administrators whose schools discuss appreciating differences and tolerance to be so upset with what you post. Never mind the fact that there's that whole "Freedom of Speech" issue in America.

As Kathy mentioned, we pay for public schools with our taxes, so we have every right to question what is going on in school. If we could afford it, our girls would be going to private school because we don't always agree with the things they are taught.

I understand that public schools have been under a microscope for years now, especially since "No Child Left Behind" was passed, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't level criticism where it is due. Our oldest daughter's school got a less than ideal rating on their last report card, and they are doing everything they can to make sure it doesn't happen again. The prinicipal called families a week ago and asked us to remind our kids that there was still two weeks left of school and they needed to keep working until the end. They actually threatened students who didn't come to the last day of school on Monday--which is a half day--with detention the first day of school in August. At some point it crosses the level into ridiculousness.

Keep up the great work with your blog. I loved what I saw.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Desrochers on June 19, 2009 at 11:30am

Thank you for all of your comments. I feel that just as they "pimp out" their Dare graduates or poster contest winners to the media all over our area, I have a right to write about what's going on in the school district. Not only that, I felt I was not malicious, the postings were factual with just a tad of sarcasm added in. All in all I was very complimentary to how they handled the entire situation after the fact. I do censor myself when I write, always keeping in mind that everybody out there can read my blog. I wanted to write "the women who runs the program is so forgetful and ditzy she was often difficult to work with because she can't remember anything. Not only that, when my hubby went to the principal, she commented on the fact the the preschool program is in a different building this year. And this woman needs better supervision. When left to her own devices crap like this keeps happening." But I wasn't out to hurt anybody, I wasn't out to drag anyone through the mud. I was recounting a situation in our everyday lives and how it was handled.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Desrochers on June 19, 2009 at 11:34am

Oh yeah, our school is on the schools in need of improvement list for their LITERACY grades...oh, the irony!

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